BV  1460  .R56  B5 
Religious  Education 

Association. 
The  Bible  in  practical  life 


19(3^ 


PROCEEDINGS  OF 

THE  SECOND  CONVENTION 

OF  THE 

RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

PHILADELPHIA,    1904 


y  THE 

RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 
ASSOCIATION 


PROCEEDINGS 

OF  THE 

SECOND  ANNUAL  CONVENTION 

PHILADELPHIA 

MARCH   2-4,   1904 


CHICAGO 

Executive  Office  of  the  Association 

153-155  LA  SALLE  street 

1904 


Copyright,  1904 
By  The  Religious  Education  Association 


September,  igo4 


CONTENTS 


ADDRESSES  AND   DISCUSSIONS 
Theme:   THE  BIBLE  IN  PRACTICAL  LIFE 

FIRST   SESSION 
THE  BIBLE  IN   RELIGIOUS   EXPERIENCE 


PAGE 


The  President's  Annual  Address 3 

Dean  Frank  Knight  S.^nders 

The  Unique  Character  and  Value  of  the  Bible  as  an  Interpreter  of  Life       11 
Professor  Thomas  C.  Hall 

The  Adequacy  of  the  Bible  in  Dealing  with  the  Crises  and  Emergencies 

of  Life  - 13 

Bishop  Alexander  Mackay-Smith 

The  Importance  of  the  Bible  as  a  Factor  in  Promoting  Spiritual  Effi- 
ciency and  Growth         .........      xy 

Rev.  Edward  Judson 

SECOND   SESSION 

RELIGIOUS   EDUCATION   IN    THE  HOME 

The  ReHgious  Opportunity  of  the  Home 21 

Dr.  Ira  Landrith 

The  Art  of  Telling  Bible  Stories 26 

Professor  Richlard  G.  Moulton 

Memor}'  Work  in  Character-Forming 31 

Dr.  Walter  L.  Hervey 

Literature  as  a  Means  of  Religious  Education  in  the  Home    -        -        -      38 
Professor  C.a^leb  T.  Winchester 


vi  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Discussion — 

Professor  Herman  H.  Horne 46 

Miss  Mary  E.  Hutcheson 48 

Rev.  Charles  L.  Fry 52 

THIRD   SESSION 

THE  BIBLE  IN   EDUCATION 

The  Qualities  which  Make  the  Bible  Educationally  Valuable         "        ■      55 
Professor  John  E.  McFadyen 

The  Contact  of  BibHcal  Material  with  the  Experience  of  the  Child        -      61 
Miss  Josephine  L.  Baldwin 

The  Contact  of  Bibhcal  Material  with  Adolescent  Life  -        -        -      67 

Professor  George  E.  Dawson 

\y'      The  Co-Ordination  of  the  Bible  with  Other  Subjects  of  Study     -        -       75 
President  William  H.  P.  Faunce 

Discussion — 

President  Mary  E.  Woolley         -----      82 
V Bishop  William  F.  McDowell 83 

FOURTH   SESSION 

^    The  Annual  Survey  of  Progress  in  Religious  and  Moral  Education     -      86 
President  Charles  Cuthbert  Hall 

FIFTH   session 

The  Bible's  Recognition  of  the  Social  Needs  and  Relationships  of  Man     100 
Professor  Francis  Greenwood  Peabody 

departmental  sessions 

/.     THE  COUNCIL  OF  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

V  A  Scientific  Basis  for  ReHgious  and  Moral  Education,  from  the  Stand- 
point of  Ethics no 

Dr.  Frederick  Tracy 


CONTENTS  vii 


PAGE 


A  Scientific  Basis  for  Religious  and  Moral  Education,  from  the  Stand- 
point of  Theology  115 

Professor  Shailer  Mathews 

A  Scientific  Basis  for  Religious  and  Moral  Education,  from  the  Stand- 
point of  Educational  Practices 120 

Dr.  Luther  Halsey  Gulick 

//.     UNIVERSITIES  AND  COLLEGES 

The  Supervision  of  the  Religious  Life  in  Educational  Institutions        -     125 
President  Richard  H.  Jesse 

Courses  Bearing  on  the  Bible  in  Practical  and  Intellectual  Life  -        -     131 
Professor  Benjamin  W.  Bacon 

Discussion — 

Professor  Henry  T.  Fowler  -        -        -        -        -        -  136 

Professor  Jesse  H.  Holmes 138 

President  E.  D.  Warfield      -        -        -        -        -        -  140 

Religious  Organizations  Among  Students 143 

President  Mary  E.  Woolley 

Discussion — 

Rev.  Charles  Franklin  Shaw        -----     147 

The  Pastoral  Opportunity  of  the  College  Professor         -        -        -        -     152 
President  Bltiris  A.  Jenkins 

Discussion — 

President  Richard  C.  Hughes 156 

Professor  William  North  Rice     -        -        -        -        -157 

///.     THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARIES 

The  Present  Status  of  Bible  Study  in  the  Theological  Curriculum        -     161 
Professor  Melancthon  W.  Jacobus 

''  The  Bible  as  a  Text-Book  of  Ethics  -        --        -        -        -        -170 

Professor  James  S.  Riggs 

The  Bible  as  a  Source  of  Religious  Experience 177 

Professor  Charles  M.  Stuart 


viii  CONTENTS 

IV.    CHURCHES  AND  PASTORS 

PAGE 

The  Educational  Use  of  the  Bible  by  the  Pastor i8o 

Rev.  Spenser  B.  Meeser 

The  Homiletic  Use  of  the  Bible  i88 

Professor  Edward  C.  Moore 

Discussion — 

Rev.  William  H.  Boocock 192 

Rev.  Lucius  O.  Baird      -        -        -        -        -        -        -     i93 

The  Layman  and  the  Spiritual  Authority  of  the  Bible  -         -         -     196 

Professor  John  Franklin  Genung 

Church  Provision  for  Adequate  Instruction  in  Biblical  Knowledge        -     202 
Professor  Samuel  T.  Button 

Discussion— 

Dr.  Walter  M.  Patton 208 

V.    SUNDAY  SCHOOLS 

A  Study  of  Sunday-School  Conditions  in  New  Jersey        -        -        -     210 
Rev.  E.  Morris  Fergusson 

A  Survey  of  the  Present  Sunday-School  World 216 

Rev.  William  C.  Bitting 

The  Present  Use  of  Graded  Lessons 226 

Mr.  Delbert  S.  Ullrick 

'Phe  .Adaptability  of  the  Bible  to  the  Graded  Lesson 

Rev.  Samuel  B.  Haslett  - 230 

iRev.  George  Whitefield  Mead     -----    234 

Organized  Suhday-School  Work  -------     237 

Rev.  George  R.  Merrill 

Discussion — 

Mr.  Samuel  H.  Williams         -        -        -        -    "    -        -    240 

The  Principles  Underlying  a  Graded  Curriculum 

Mr.  Edvard  p.  St.  John         ------    243 

Professor  Ernest  D.  Burton 248 

j 

i 
i 


\ 


CONTENTS  ix 

PAGE 

The  Sunday-School  Teacher 

Professor  George  W.  Pease 255 

Dean  J.  B.  Van  Meter  ......    259 

The  Religious  Education  Association  and  the  Sunday  School        -        -     263 
Dr.  Albert  E.  Dunning 

Discussion — 

Rev.  Lester  Bradner,  Jr. 267 

VI.    SECONDARY  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

The  Resources  of  the  School  for  Moral  Training  .        .        .        .     269 

Dr.  Ray  Greene  Huling 

Religious  Teaching  in  the  Public  Schools 276 

Professor  Herman  H.  Horne 

The  Moral  Effects  of  Bible  Reading  and  the  Lord's  Prayer  in  Public 

Schools 280 

Dr.  J.  Remsen  Bishop 

Historical  Questions  in  Relation  to  Differences  in  Religious  Belief        -     285 
Professor  George  E.  Horr 

Discussion — 

Dr.  Joseph  S.  Walton 291 


VII.    ELEMENTARY  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

Religious  Training  in  the  German  Schools  .....     294 

Professor  Levt  Seeley 

Moral  Instruction  in  the  Anderson  Public  Schools  .        .        .        .    ^02 

Mr.  John  W.  Carr 

Religious  and  Moral  Teaching  in  the  Public  Elementary  School         -    311 
Dr.  Walter  L.  Hervey 

Discussion — 

President  Joseph  Swain         -        -        -        -        -        -322 


X  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

The  Development  of  the  Will  in  Children 326 

Dr.  Cloyd  N.  McAllister 

The  Moral  and  Religious  Qualifications  of  the  Teacher         ...     ^30 
Dr.  Nathan  C.  Schaeffer 


VIII.  PRIVATE  SCHOOLS 

[No  Session  of  this  Department  was  held  at  the  Philadelphia  Convention.] 

IX.  TEACHER    TRAINING 

The  Present  Training  of  Teachers  for  Religious  Education  -        -    333 

Professor  Amos  W.  Patten 

The  Psychological  and  Pedagogical  Principles  of  Religious  Teaching     -     340 
Dr.  R.  R.  Reeder 

Specialization  in  Sunday-School  Teaching 345 

Dr.  Richard  Morse  Hodge 

X.    CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIATIONS 

Religious  Education  in  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations  -        -    347 
Mr.  Edwin  F.  See 

Agencies  for  Religious  Education  in  Addition  to  Bible  Study  in  the 

Young  Men's  Christian  Association        ------     356 

Dr.  L.  L.  Doggett 

XL     YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  SOCIETIES 

The  Relation  of  the  Young  People's  Societies  to  other  Departments  of  the 

Church - 367 

Mr.  Amos  R.  Wells 

The  Four  Chief  Elements  of  Christian  Training  .        -        .        .    ^76 

Rev.  Charles  Luther  Kloss 

The  Conditions  and  Needs  of  Young  People's  Societies  -        -        -    379 

Rev.  William  B.  Forbush 


CONTENTS  xi 

PAGE 

The  Test  of  Success  in  Church  Boys'  Clubs  -----    388 

Rev.  George  G.  Bartlett 

Character-Making  Elements  in  Young  Men's  Bible  Classes  -        -    395 

Rev.  W.  G.  Fennell 

XII.  THE  HOME 

[The  Session  of  this  Department  was  merged  in  the  Joint  Departmental 
Session  on  "Religious  Education  in  the  Home."] 

XIII.  LIBRARIES 

The  Religious  and  Ethical  Work  of  Libraries        -----    400 
Mr.  George  F.  Bowerman 

The  Union  of  Sunday-School  Libraries  with  Public  Libraries       -        -    407 
Miss  Elizabeth  L.  Foote 

Religious  and  Ethical  Work  Possible  in  the  Children's  Sections  of  the 

Public  Library       ----- 413 

Miss  Electra  C.  Doren 

Co-operation    between    the    Sunday-School    Teacher   and   the    Public 

Library 419 

Dr.  James  H.  Canfield 

XIV.  THE  PRESS 

The  Relation  of  the  Religious  Press  to  Religious  Education        -        -    425 
Mr.  Nolan  R.  Best 

The  Opportunity  of  the  Daily  Press  to  Apply  Biblical  Principles  to 

Modem  Social  Problems -         -     431 

Mr.  a.  J.  McKelway 

The  Opportunity  of  the  Secular  Press  for  the  Moral  Education  of  the 

People 436 

Mr.  William  T.  Ellis 

The  Influence  of  the  Religious  Press  on  the  Home  and  the  School         -     442 
Mr.  Edmiinx)  F.  Merriam 


xii  CONTENTS 

XV.    CORRESPONDENCE  INSTRUCTION 

PAGE 

Correspondence  Instruction  as  a  Factor  in  Religious  Culture     -        -    446 
Dr.  William  A.  Colledge 

The  Scope  and  Method  of  the  Work  of  the  Department  of  Correspond- 
ence Instruction  -         -         - 452 

Mr.  Hervey  F.  Mallory 

Discussion — 

President  Victor  C.  Alderson       -----    456 

XVI.    SUMMER  ASSEMBLIES 

Summer  Schools  and  Religious  Education     -        -        -        -        -        -     457 

Professor  George  E.  Vincent 

Summer  Schools  of  Sunday-School  Methods 465 

Miss  Josephine  L.  Baldwin 

Religious  Psychology  and  Pedagogy  in  Summer  Schools         -        -        -     469 
Professor  George  Albert  Coe 

XVII.    RELIGIOUS  ART  AND  MUSIC 

The  Use  of  Biblical  Pictures  in  Teaching  Children        -        -        -        -     471 
Mr.  Henry  Turner  Bailey 

The  Educational  Values  of  Church  Architecture  and  Decoration        -     477 
Mr.  J.  Cleveland  Cady 

Clubs  and  Classes  for  the  Study  of  Religious  Pictorial  Art  -        -     483 

Miss  Harriet  Cecil  Magee 

The  Religious  Values  of  Literature        -        - 49° 

Professor  William  D.  MacClintock 

The  Service  to  Religious  Feeling  of  the  Music  of  the  Church  -        -     502 

Professor  George  C.  Gow 

The  Field  of  Artistic  Influences  in  Religious  Education  -        -        -     508 

Professor  Waldo  S.  Pratt 


CONTENTS  xiii 
PROCEEDINGS  AND   MEMBERSHIP 

PAGE 

The  Minutes  of  the  Convention 517 

The  Constitution  of  the  Association            531 

The  Officers  of  the  Association           -        -        -        -        -        -  536 

The  Members  of  the  Council  of  Religious  Education        -        -  549 

The  Members  of  the  Association 551 

Indexes 621 

Index  of  Members    ---------    623  . 

General  Index         ---------    631 


THE  SECOND  CONVENTION 

ADDRESSES  AND  DISCUSSIONS 

THEME: 
THE  BIBLE  IN  PRACTICAL  LIFE 


FIRST    SESSION 

THE  BIBLE  IN  RELIGIOUS  EXPERIENCE 


THE  PRESIDENT'S  ANNUAL  ADDRESS 
PROFESSOR  FRANK  KNIGHT  SANDERS,  Ph.D.,  D.D., 

DEAN   YALE   DIVINITY   SCHOOL,   NEW   HAVEN,   CONNECTICUT 

The  Religious  Education  Association  has  a  Httle  more  than  passed 
its  first  anniversary.  On  February  12,  1903,  by  one  of  the  most  notably 
representative  conventions  ever  held  in  this  country,  authority  was 
granted  to  a  carefully  chosen  Board  of  Directors  to  act  as  the  agent  of 
the  Convention  in  completing  the  steps  already  taken  and  bringing 
into  being  a  fully  equipped  organization.  Tonight  the  Association 
meets  in  Philadelphia,  this  representative  city  of  the  East,  not  alone  to 
make  answer  of  stewardship  to  its  hopeful  friends  by  exhibiting  the 
quality  and  promise  of  what  has  actually  been  achieved,  but  to  renew  a 
declaration  of  its  broad  and  helpful  policy,  to  exhibit  its  plans  of  admin- 
istration and  of  active  service,  to  determine  upon  wise  and  fruitful 
betterments  of  policy  or  plans,  to  reach  through  the  conference  of 
alert  and  earnest  men  and  women  the  widest  and  sanest  possible  out- 
look, and  to  develop  anew  an  intelligent  enthusiasm  throughout  the 
land  for  an  immediate,  aggressive  movement  on  behalf  of  religious 
education.  In  particular,  through  the  carefully  unified  program  of 
this  Convention  the  Religious  Education  Association  seeks  to  make  an 
adequate — for  working  purposes,  perhaps  a  reasonably  final — demon- 
stration of  the  direct  and  indispensable,  yet  truly  catholic  and  ecumeni- 
cal, relation  of  the  Bible  to  the  achievement  of  the  purpose  which  it 
keeps  steadily  in  view.  Among  the  many  possible  and  truly  efficient 
means  of  promoting  the  responsiveness  of  the  human  soul  to  God 
which  we  recognize  today,  the  Scriptures  are  pre-eminent.  Born  in 
the  very  impulse  to  make  real  to  men  the  being  and  character  of  God 
and  his  active  relationship  with  men,  they  kindle  most  quickly  and  feed 
most  steadily  the  responsive  glow  of  the  soul. 

Fully  to  set  forth  at  this  time  the  character  and  pohcy  of  the  Reh- 
gious  Education  Association  is  impracticable  and  unnecessary.  It  will 
vouch  for  itself.  In  view,  however,  of  the  criticisms  to  which  expression 
has  been  given  during  the  past  year,  both  by  sincere  friends  of  the 
Association  whose  desires  for  definite  achievements  have  outrun  their 

3 


4  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

sober  judgment  of  possibilities,  and  by  equally  sincere  opponents  who 
have  allowed  their  fear  of  a  small  minority  of  the  working  member- 
ship of  this  organization  to  influence  their  estimate  of  the  catholicity 
and  conservatism  of  the  movement,  it  seems  well  to  make  several  straight- 
forward declarations. 

1.  The  Religious  Education  Association  has  already  a  membership 
so  large,  so  varied  in  character,  and  so  many-sided  in  interest  and  influ- 
ence that  it  is  beyond  the  dominion  of  any  section  of  country  or  class 
of  men.  Practically  all  the  religious  instructors  in  our  universities, 
colleges,  and  theological  schools  are  identified  with  its  work;  yet  it 
does  not  become  an  organization  of  professionals.  Their  numbers 
are  few  as  compared  with  the  much  larger  proportion  of  members  who 
are  active  pastors  of  the  churches  of  all  denominations,  or  of  members 
who  belong  to  the  honorable  order  of  rehgiously  active  laity.  The 
strength  of  our  membership  today  lies  in  its  broadly  representative 
character.  To  a  remarkable  extent  the  Association  is  getting  together 
for  mutual  information,  stimulus,  and  counsel  all  types  of  constructive 
minds — experts  and  laymen  alike — and  setting  them  to  work  upon 
the  pressing  j)roblems  of  religious  education.  There  is  little  real 
danger  of  professionalism  or  radicalism  in  the  movement. 

2.  This  danger  is  made  even  more  remote  by  the  fact  that  the 
Religious  Education  Association  is  not  a  strongly  centralized  corpora- 
tion with  a  policy  dictated  by  one  mind  or  by  a  small  group  of  men. 
For  the  sake  of  promoting  the  harmonious  and  unbroken  develop- 
ment of  its  many  lines  of  activity,  it  intrusts  to  an  Executive  Board 
of  twenty-one  men,  with  its  staff  of  efficient  secretaries,  the  execution 
of  the  general  policy  for  the  year,  which  is  formulated  and  determined 
by  the  Hoard  of  Directors,  a  body  strictly  representative  of  the  general 
and  local  interest  in  religious  education  throughout  the  country,  and 
elected  annually  by  the  Association.  So  far  as  the  specific  promotion 
of  religious  education  is  concerned,  the  Association  may  be  rightly 
described  as  a  federated  body,  a  union  of  seventeen  distinct  Depart- 
ments, each  responsible  for  the  promotion  of  religious  education  within 
a  field  f)eculiarly  its  own;  each  under  the  management  of  a  committee 
of  men  and  women  well  known  for  experience,  resourcefulness,  and 
representativeness;  each  attracting  to  its  .service  a  certain  proportion 
of  our  working  memljership.  While  our  general  officers  serve  as  an 
agency  of  unification  and  co-operation  in  departmental  work,  it  still 
remains  true  that  the  departmental  committees  have  much  freedom 
of  action  and  responsibility.  The  current  year  has  made  no  adeciuate 
test  of  this  arrangement;  many  of  the  Departments  have  had  little 


THE  PRESIDENT'S  ANNUAL  ADDRESS  5 

more  than  time  for  tentative  investigations.  It  may  be  said,  by  way 
of  illustration,  that  the  notable  program  which  lies  before  you  is  the 
joint  product  of  the  general  ofiicers  and  the  officers  of  Departments. 
The  former  have  been  responsible  for  the  sessions  of  the  whole  Con- 
vention: the  latter,  having  freedom  of  consultation  with  the  general 
officers,  have  been  largely  responsible  for  their  respective  programs. 
Our  organization  presents  great  openings  for  wise  and  unselfish  leader- 
ship; it  offers  scant  opportunity  to  the  autocrat. 

3.  The  Rehgious  Education  Association  has  consistently  pursued 
this  year  a  policy  of  conciliation  and  conservatism.  It  has  exactly  ful- 
filled its  pledges  of  a  year  ago.  It  has  no  intention  of  duplicating 
work  already  well  done  by  any  existing  organization.  It  does  not  seek 
to  rival  other  organizations,  but  rather  to  co-operate  helpfully  with 
them  and  to  supplement  their  work.  It  stands  ready  to  support  by 
every  reasonable  method  all  well-considered  and  properly  organized 
movements  for  religious  education  whether  initiated  under  its  own 
auspices  or  otherwise.  Its  work  is  not  iconoclastic,  its  methods  not 
polemical,  its  spirit  not  radical.  It  seeks  to  remedy  the  acknowledged 
abuses  of  religious  education,  (i)  by  arousing  the  latent  but  available 
energy  of  religious-minded  men  and  women;  (2)  by  unifying,  educat- 
ing, and  giving  direction  to  this  energy;  (3)  by  collecting  the  data 
required  for  the  formulation  of  sound  plans  of  work ;  and  (4)  by  using 
this  energy  in  the  promotion  of  such  plans.  We  could  be  justly  criti- 
cised were  we  to  present  within  this  brief  space  of  time  a  program  of 
sweeping  reforms.  A  truly  constructive  policy  requires  time  for  formu- 
lation. 

No  student  of  the  religious  trend  of  the  past  decade  can  doubt  that 
the  time  has  become  ripe  for  such  a  movement  as  this.  The  stars  are 
fighting  in  their  courses  for  us.  The  real  history  o\  the  genesis  of  the 
Religious  Education  Association  goes  far  back  of  the  summer  and  fall 
of  1902.  For  more  than  thirty  years,  through  the  notable  co-ordination 
and  extension  of  Sunday-school  interests  in  North  America,  conceived 
and  carried  out  by  such  broad-minded  men  as  Bishop  John  H.  Vin- 
cent and  his  associates,  a  great,  original  impulse  was  given  to  the  popular 
study  of  the  Bible — an  impulse  truly  ecumenical  in  its  effects.  The 
International  scheme  of  uniform  lessons  has  had  the  effect  of  developing 
an  army  of  intelligent  laity,  eager  to  be  more  generously  equipped  with 
the  necessary  knowledge,  outlook,  and  methods  for  effective  rehgious 
service. 

But  within  the  last  quarter-century  all  kinds  of  human  investigation 
have  taken  on  the  historical  point  of  view.     The  study  of  life  as  it  was 


6  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

and  is,  in  order  to  formulate  principles  for  the  life  of  today  and  of  the 
future,  is  the  prevailing  purpose  of  all  types  of  students.  This  is  true  in 
the  investigation  of  the  phenomena  of  the  religious  life  no  more  and  no 
less  than  in  the  investigation  of  other  problems.  The  historical  viev^^- 
point  is  the  fruitful  one.  It  makes  the  record  of  the  rehgious  life  and 
thought  of  past  ages  a  continuing  source  of  stimulating  experience  for 
the  religious  life  of  our  day.  It  is  essential  to  the  reaUty  and  force  of 
Biblical  instruction  at  the  present  time  that  it  have  a  historical  basis; 
only  so  can  it  remain  broadly  and  conservatively  religious. 

This  historical  point  of  view  has  created  a  new  psychology,  based 
upon  the  actual  exhibition  of  mental  processes  by  living  people  rather 
than  upon  theories  of  how  they  ought  to  think;  and  a  new  pedagogy, 
which  seeks  to  determine  the  science  of  instruction  by  a  detailed  analy- 
sis and  criticism  of  methods  actually  in  use.  These  disciphnes  are 
advocating  changes  almost  revolutionary  in  the  accepted  methods  of 
rehgious  education. 

The  historical  point  of  view  in  Bible  study  is  not  only  making  it 
more  valuable  than  ever  for  the  devotional  student  or  the  religious 
leader,  but  it  is  revealing  the  Scriptures  as  a  veritable  mine  of  values 
for  the  student  of  human  nature,  of  organized  society,  and  of  religious 
thought.  In  whatever  way  man  comes  into  relation  with  God  or 
with  his  fellow-man,  the  Bible  proves  to  be  his  rehable  source,  not 
always  of  specific  instruction,  but  without  exception  of  inspirational 
suggestion. 

The  historical  renaissance  in  Bible  study  has  fostered  three  note- 
worthy developments,  each  of  which  has  in  turn  made  more  necessary 
such  an  organization  as  our  own.  The  first  to  be  mentioned  is  the 
widespread  introduction  of  the  Bible  and  of  other  instrumentalities  of 
religious  culture  into  the  regular  curricula  of  our  universities,  colleges, 
and  private  secondary  schools,  not  as  a  nominal  requirement,  but  as  a 
serious  culture  study,  subject  to  all  the  tests  given  to  others. 

The  second  development  is  the  successful  preparation  and  promo- 
tion of  courses  of  study  of  a  high  order  by  the  organizations  which 
stand  for  the  religious  development  of  specific  classes.  Notable  among 
these  are  the  Christian  Associations  and  the  Young  People's  organiza- 
tions. I  cannot  speak  too  highly  of  the  excellent  results  thus  reached 
within  the  past  five  years. 

Side  by  side  with  these  developments  should  be  mentioned  the 
achievements  of  certain  individuals  who  have  contributed  in  a  definite 
way  to  the  advancement  of  religious  education  through  Bible  study. 
They  have  been  pioneers  in  experimentation — men  of  courage,  persist- 


THE  PRESIDENT'S  ANNUAL  ADDRESS  7 

ence,  and  earnestness.  To  them  more  than  to  all  other  causes  com- 
bined is  due  the  organization  of  the  Religious  Education  Association. 

As  a  last  instance  of  the  progress  of  this  generation  I  would  men- 
tion the  gradual  provision  of  suitable  literature  for  reference  and  for 
study.  Only  ten  years  ago  there  was  an  almost  absolute  lack.  Stan- 
ley's History  of  the  Jewish  Church  was  perhaps  the  best  available  work 
in  Enghsh  on  the  Old  Testament  for  the  historical  student.  Today 
he  can  take  his  choice  from  half  a  dozen  admirable  histories.  Outlines 
for  historical  study  were  almost  unknown;  today  they  abound. 

These  very  achievements  have  made  our  Association  a  necessity,  if 
the  progress  is  to  continue.  The  need  of  today  is  more  than  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  successes  of  the  past.  Progress  never  finds  its  goal, 
but  is  forced  to  press  on  to  larger  attainment.  Results  are  but  data 
for  wider  generalizations.  The  secret  of  the  successful  promotion  of 
religious  education  in  our  land  will  be  an  organization  not  limited  by 
specific  interests  or  even  denominational  trends. 

Each  of  the  successful  organizations  to  which  I  have  already  made 
reference  works  under  certain  limitations.  The  International  Sunday 
School  Association  does  not  feel  itself  at  liberty  to  become  an  experi- 
menting body.  It  may  well  become  the  duty  and  privilege  of  the 
ReHgious  Education  Association,  through  its  Department  of  Sunday 
Schools,  managed  by  men  and  women  who  are  in  full  sympathy  with 
the  legitimate  aims  of  the  International  Sunday  School  Association,  to 
study  faithfully  the  working  problems  of  the  Sunday  school,  to  make 
experiments  as  regards  curricula,  grading,  teacher-training,  and  like 
problems,  and  to  formulate  suggestions  which  will  be  adopted  in  pro- 
portion to  their  reasonableness  and  practicable  character. 

In  like  manner  the  Christian  Associations  and  Young  People's 
societies  have  constituencies  which  rapidly  shift.  As  organizations  their 
energies  must  be  centered  upon  the  immediate  practical  needs  of  their 
respective  fields.  This  leaves  abundant  room  for  the  broader  gathering 
of  facts  and  the  formulation  of  more  permanent  conclusions  regarding 
the  wisest  methods  of  promoting  the  religious  education  of  those  who 
are  relatively  young. 

Aside  from  these  lines  of  activity,  already  more  or  less  developed, 
the  Religious  Education  Association  has  a  broad  field  peculiarly  its 
own,  suggested  by  the  divisions  of  the  program  of  the  Convention. 
Through  its  Council  it  will  be  able  "to  reach  and  to  disseminate  correct 
thinking  on  all  general  subjects  relating  to  religious  and  moral  educa- 
tion, initiating  and  completing  investigations  of  fundamental  impor- 
tance."   Through  its  "Annual  Survey  of  the  Progress  of  Religious 


8  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

Education"  it  will  make  available  to  the  general  public  the  best  results 
of  each  year's  activity  among  religious  pioneers  and  students.  Among 
the  churches  and  the  various  organizations  of  men  for  religious  pur- 
poses it  will  have  an  unoccupied  field  for  missionary  effort. 

But  its  greatest  objective  will  be  the  clear-thinking  individual.  It 
is  truly  pathetic  to  reahze  the  large  number  of  isolated  individuals  who 
have  fruitful  ideas,  but  no  means  of  making  them  bear  fruit.  The 
Rehgious  Education  Association  will  give  them  chance  for  a  hearing. 
The  inteUigent  layman  is  the  working  factor  of  the  future. 

In  relation  to  all  these  opportunities  the  Rehgious  Education  Asso- 
ciation stands  to  unify,  to  harmonize,  to  federate,  and  to  offer  co-opera- 
tion. It  seeks  to  unify  the  efforts  of  all  organizations  which  promote 
some  phase  of  rehgious  education,  so  that  the  progress  made  at  one 
point  shall  be  utilized  by  all.  To  this  end  it  aims  to  unite  these  organi- 
zations with  itself  in  an  independent  yet  co-operative  relation  of  active 
friendhness,  accepting  the  results  achieved  by  each  and  contributing 
by  unbiased  investigations  to  their  available  resources. 

The  Rehgious  Education  Association  also  stands  for  the  general 
promotion  of  the  interests  of  religious  education.  It  must  seek  to  attain 
reUable  results  and  satisfactory  methods.  It  must  encourage  the  trying 
of  new  plans,  so  that  their  value  can  be  demonstrated  in  actual  use.  It 
must  foster  an  active  and  widespread  desire  for  a  forward  movement. 

The  history  of  the  work  of  this  year  is  quickly  told.  It  has  been  a 
year  of  great  activity  on  the  part  of  many,  but  a  kind  which  makes  httle 
display. 

It  has  been  a  year  of  organization.  WTien  the  Convention  adjourned 
at  Chicago,  there  existed  only  an  admirable  set  of  plans  and  a  skeleton 
organization.  With  laborious  and  self-sacrificing  effort  these  plans 
have  been  realized.  The  magnitude  of  the  task  can  be  only  in  part 
appreciated  by  one  who  notes  the  wide  range  of  interests  covered  by 
the  organization.  The  Executive  Board  set  itself  six  tasks:  the  com- 
pletion of  the  long  hst  of  officers,  both  general  and  departmental; 
the  secviring  of  a  large  list  of  members  of  the  Association;  the  secur- 
ing of  funds  for  the  proper  prosecution  of  the  work;  the  securing  of 
competent  executive  secretaries;  the  formulation  of  methods  and  plans 
for  departmental  activity;  and  the  determination  of  the  best  method 
of  giving  information  to  members  and  others.  By  May,  the  first  two 
objects  were  practically  achieved.  Over  one  hundred  and  fifty  differ- 
ent men  and  women  had  accepted  responsible  offices;  nearly  thirteen 
hundred  members  had  been  secured  (since  increased  to  about  two 
thousand).     By  July,   at  the  semi-annual  meeting  of  the  Board  of 


THE  PRESIDENT'S  ANNUAL  ADDRESS  9 

Directors  in  Boston,  suitable  plans  for  departmental  work  were  con- 
sidered and  adopted,  and  a  regular  Bulletin  authorized.  But  not  untU 
November  was  the  Board  able  to  announce  the  most  urgent  need  of 
the  Association,  viz.,  the  election  of  a  General  Secretary.  By  the 
unanimous  choice  of  Dr.  Ira  Landrith,  of  Nashville,  as  General  Sec- 
retar}',  of  Dr.  Clyde  W.  Votaw,  as  Editorial  Secretary,  and  of  Dr.  Wallace 
N.  Stearns,  as  Financial  Secretary,  the  working  force  of  the  Association 
was  made  complete. 

It  will  readily  be  seen  that  this  long,  yet  necessary  and  perhaps 
salutary,  delay  greatly  crippled  the  departmental  work,  which  particu- 
larly requires  the  friendly  co-operation  of  the  General  Secretary. 

Yet  the  year  has  been  a  fruitful  one — a  year  of  strong  beginnings, 
of  the  collation  of  memoranda  which  will  be  serviceable  in  the  months 
to  come,  of  investigations  and  experiments  still  in  their  initial  stages. 

The  publication  of  the  Report  of  the  First  Convention  has  given 
a  notable  volume  to  the  permanent  hterature  of  religious  education. 
The  other  pubhcations  issued  by  the  Association  have  estabHshed  a 
standard  of  excellence  for  which  all  friends  of  the  movement  may  be 
truly  grateful  to  our  Editorial  Secretary. 

The  Departments  are  now  strongly  manned.  Our  methods  have 
had  the  benefit  of  a  little  working  experience.  Our  equipment  com- 
mands universal  respect.  We  have  a  working  efficiency  which  not  even 
this  great  Convention  will  adequately  exhibit.  We  may  look  forward 
with  confidence  to  the  work  of  the  coming  years. 

For  there  is  a  great  work  to  be  done;  we  have  but  made  a  begin- 
ning; the  field  is  limitless  and  inviting.  We  need  to  make  a  working 
platform  so  broad  that  all  earnest  and  reverent  souls  can  find  a  place 
for  themselves  upon  it.  We  need  to  define  religious  education  in 
such  a  way  that  it  shall  not  mean  sectarianism  or  sentimentalism,  but 
a  kind  of  culture  which  is  indispensable  to  the  normal  man — a  culture 
as  naturally  belonging  to  pubhc  education  as  to  private,  a  culture  which 
shall  stand  pre-eminently  for  religious  reality  and  breadth  and  power. 
We  need  to  make  it  clear  that  religion  is  as  broad  as  fife  itself,  and  that 
life  without  religion  is  impossible.  We  need  to  localize  our  work  by 
holding  smaller  gatherings  in  districts  and  in  cities,  at  which  the  prin- 
ciples and  methods  which  condition  progress  can  be  brought  home  to 
those  who  cannot  journey  far  away.  We  need  to  encourage  the  num- 
berless men  and  women  who  are  waiting  for  strong  leadership  to  take 
a  hand  in  this  great  enterprise.  Why  should  there  not  be  a  thousand 
people  in  this  very  Convention  who  will  be  glad  to  lend  their  influence 
and  support  to  this  movement  in  which  they  surely  take  a  vital  interest  ? 


lo  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

The  opportunity  before  the  Religious  Education  Association  is 
boundless.  The  responsibility  upon  its  officers  and  members  is  very 
great.  The  achievements  which  may  be  attained  are  substantial  and 
definite.  The  year  to  come  is  the  critical  year  of  the  organization. 
May  God's  rich  blessing  attend  those  upon  whom  will  devolve  the 
responsibility  of  leadership. 


THE  UNIQUE   CHARACTER  AND  VALUE  OF  THE  BIBLE 
AS  AN  INTERPRETER  OF  LIFE 

PROFESSOR  THOMAS  C.  HALL,  D.D., 

UNION  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY,   NEW   YORK  CITY 

Life  has  two  aspects  whose  relations  to  each  other  give  themes  to 
the  profoundest  philosophy.  We  may  think  of  hfe  as  individual,  or  we 
may  fix  our  attention  upon  the  communal  life  in  which  alone  the  indi- 
vidual can  by  any  possibility  express  himself.  These  two  aspects  can 
never  be  wholesomely  separated.  Any  interpretation  of  life  must  be 
a  message  to  the  whole  of  life. 

Now,  if  you  will  consider  the  matter  a  little,  you  will  see  that  the  New 
Testament  in  its  main  emphasis  was  a  message  to  the  individual.  The 
circumstances  in  which  the  writers  of  the  earliest  Christian  literature  did 
their  work,  the  circle  of  ideas  in  which  they  moved,  made  that  inevi- 
table. For,  in  the  first  place,  the  Uttle  bands  of  poor  and  uninfluential 
Christians  could  not  possibly  aim  at  much  political  influence  in  the 
face  of  an  overwhelming  pagan  imperialism.  But,  in  the  second  place, 
they  did  not  themselves  even  covet  communal  influence.  Their  hope 
was  the  speedy  coming  of  Jesus  in  power.  He  was  to  reorganize 
society  in  judgments  and  by  undisputed  exercise  of  supernatural  power. 
The  only  message  that  was  really  worth  while  was  to  get  ready  for  that 
appearance,  to  be  found  in  Christ,  and  holy  in  hfe  and  heart.  Even  Paul 
only  reluctantly  gave  up  the  hope  of  seeing  the  day  of  the  Lord,  and 
comforted  those  who  were  to  remain  by  the  thought  that  salvation  was  in 
the  very  near  future,  if  even  some  did  fall  asleep  before  the  appearance. 
This  individual  character  of  the  New  Testament  message  is  not  only  per- 
vasive and  dominant,  but  the  total  impression  on  an  evangelical  Protes- 
tantism that  has  lived  on  that  message  has  been  an  individualistic  one. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  other  aspect  is  not  wholly  neglected  even  in 
the  New  Testament,  but  it  does  not  control;  and  I  venture  the  some- 
what bold  assertion  that  the  New  Testament  taken  alone  actually  mis- 
represents the  purpose  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  that  His  main  cry  is  largely 
lost  if  we  study  nothing  but  the  New  Testament. 

To  understand  Jesus  we  must  recover  again  the  background  of 
His  hfe;  we  must  saturate  ourselves,  as  far  as  time  and  capacity  will 
admit  of  it,  with  the  thoughts  and  hopes  into  which  Jesus  came,  in 
which  He  did  His  work,  and  which  He  so  wonderfully  lifted  to  the  highest 
level  of  religious  aspiration.     In  other  words,  if  the  Bible  is  to  be  an 

II 


12  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

interpreter  of  all  life,  the  national  and  communal  message  of  the  Old 
Testament  must  be  bound  up  with  that  of  the  New  Testament. 

I  well  remember  as  a  boy  to  have  had  placed  in  my  hands  a  picture- 
book  supposed  to  illustrate  the  Old  Testament.  In  it  was  a  picture  of 
Abraham  sitting  at  the  door  of  his  tent.  I  fear  the  fact  that  it  struck 
even  my  boyish  ignorance  as  strange  that  Abraham  should  have  pos- 
session of  a  flint-lock  musket  laid  the  foundation  for  studies  in  his- 
torical criticism  that  at  first  had  very  negative  results.  But  are  not 
as  absurd  anachronisms  perpetrated  daily  in  the  unintelligent  teaching 
of  the  Old  Testament  ?  We  read  back  the  ethics  and  the  religious  life 
of  the  Christian  era  into  the  lives  of  wandering  nomads.  Jacob  is  a 
shifty,  dishonest  sheik  whose  forceful  portrait  has  interest  for  us  in  no 
sense  as  a  model  of  Christian  virtue,  but  only  as  an  epitome  of  a  long 
and  instructive  chapter  in  the  organizing  of  a  communal  life  in  which 
Jehovah  was  more  and  more  to  reveal  Himself. 

It  is  in  God's  providence  that  historical  criticism  is  revealing  to  us 
the  true  meaning  of  that  communal  life  which  has  meant,  not  much 
but  everything  to  the  human  race.  But  that  the  Old  Testament  may 
deHver  its  message  it  is  absolutely  necessary  that  historical  criticism 
do  its  work  fearlessly,  and  the  progressive  communal  character  of  God's 
revelation  be  fully  revealed.  Just  now  nothing  is  more  needed  to  cor- 
rect the  overemphasis  of  individualistic  Protestantism  than  a  fresh  and 
free  study  of  the  interpretations  of  human  life  that  find  such  splendid 
expression  in  the  Old  Testament.  Then  we  shall  come  to  learn  that 
Jesus  came  to  save  a  nation.  He  beheld  his  city  and  wept  over  it.  He 
longed  to  transform  Judaism  into  the  suffering  Servant  of  Jehovah, 
ready  to  die,  if  need  be,  for  the  revelation  of  righteousness.  Judaism 
would  not,  and  Jesus  turned  to  a  Httle  selected  group  to  accompHsh 
that  which  should  have  been,  and  is  yet  to  be,  a  nation's  task. 

I  cannot  close  without  reminding  you  that  the  national  messages  of 
the  eighth  century  prophets  must  ring  in  our  ears  as  a  nation.  When 
money  becomes  the  standard  of  morals,  and  materialism  is  substituted 
for  faith  and  righteousness  as  the  nation's  watchword— then  it  is  high 
time  that  the  messages  of  Amos  and  Hosea  and  Micah  should  make  our 
ears  tingle,  and  recall  us  to  the  fact  that  God  did  without  our  republic 
for  many  generations  and  could  do  without  us  again.  The  call  of 
Jesus  is  to  us  as  a  nation.  His  is  the  interpretation  of  life  that  crowns 
the  messages  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament.  As  he  reveals  to  us 
God's  purpose,  in  its  slow  unfolding  through  a  nation's  history,  we 
must  seek  to  understand  Him  better  and  better,  and  for  that  reason  we 
have  given  us  the  message  to  the  individual  soul  in  the  New  and  the 
message  to  the  nation  in  the  Old  Testament. 


THE  ADEQUACY  OF  THE  BIBLE  IN  DEALING  WITH  THE 
CRISES  AND  EMERGENCIES  OF  LIFE 

RT.  REV.  ALEXANDER  MACKAY-SMITH,  D.D., 

BISHOP-COADJUTOR   DIOCESE  OF   PENNSYLVANIA,   PHILADELPHIA 

The  Christian  church  has  never  closely  defined  the  nature  of  the 
inspiration  of  the  Bible.  We  all  believe  that  through  its  words  the  Spirit 
of  God  is  breathing,  yet  not  as  water  runs  through  a  pipe,  but  rather  as 
the  breezes  stream  through  the  forest.  In  the  Bible  are  comprised,  in  a 
measure,  the  records  of  the  world's  earliest  civilization ;  the  story  of  men 
and  of  nations  which  illustrate,  one  might  dare  to  say,  not  only  every 
possible  phase  of  human  nature,  but  every  possible  experience  which  is 
known  in  the  history  of  humanity.  The  records  of  the  world  are  the 
foundation  walls  of  its  civilization.  What  is  a  Bible  record  ?  It  is  a 
fastened  fact,  a  fixed  thought,  a  fragment  of  truth  packed  for  export. 
It  comes  from  some  source  where  it  would  have  been  largely  wasted 
but  for  the  inspired  hand  which  seized  and  transfixed  it.  The  deeds  and 
thoughts  of  the  past,  as  recorded  in  the  Bible,  are  of  inexpressible  value, 
and  as  we  read  them  we  reason  how  priceless  must  the  unrecorded  past 
have  been  when  even  this  small  part  known  to  us  has  done  so  much  for 
civilization  and  spirituality.  It  is  like  pondering  the  scientific  fact  that 
every  ton  of  sea- water  is  said  to  contain  a  grain  of  gold,  so  that  all  man- 
kind might  possess  riches  beyond  the  bounds  of  avarice,  could  all  the 
wealth  of  the  seas  be  extracted.  The  man  who  thinks  little  of  the  past 
is  a  savage;  the  nation  that  breaks  with  it  entirely  is  a  ruined  nation. 
How  poor  would  life  be  without  even  the  records  of  profane  history; 
how  utterly  unillumined,  were  that  Bible  part  lost  in  which  we  see  the 
Holy  Spirit  working  among  men. 

Human  records  bring  us  into  intellectual  touch  with  the  impact  of 
mind  upon  mind,  and  with  human  interpretation  of  fact  bearing  upon 
fact  through  the  ages.  Divine  records  bring  to  bear  all  heaven  upon  our 
soul ;  and  both  human  and  divine  records  are,  should  they  happen  to  be 
joyous  ones,  like  the  great  coal  measures  of  the  earth,  which  are  really 
the  compressed  sunshine  of  the  past;  while,  should  they  be  sorrowful 
ones,  they  are  rather  like  the  flowing  rivers,  which  are  in  reality  the 
records  of  stormy  days  and  rainy  skies  gone  by.  Every  educated 
mind  has  been  molded  by  these  records,  both  profane  and  Biblical. 
The  great  names  of  the  past  have  influenced  our  lives  today.  You  are 
different  from  what  you  would  have  been  if  Homer,  Dante,  Shakespeare, 

13 


14  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

and  Goethe  had  never  lived,  and  especially  if  Moses  and  Isaiah  and 
St.  Paul  had  never  declared,  "Thus  saith  the  Lord."  If  they  have 
not  influenced  you  directly,  they  have  still  made  impact  upon  other 
lives  which  have  moved  yours.  Each  of  us  is  like  a  harper  sending  his 
tiny  note  to  blend  with  the  vast  orchestral  music  of  the  present,  but  all 
that  music  is  conditioned,  and  takes  its  tune  from  the  deep  organ  roll  of 
the  past,  sounding  down  the  corridors  of  time. 

The  records  of  the  Bible,  as  they  tell  us  how  men  faced,  long  ago,  the 
great  facts  of  life,  its  griefs,  its  sorrows,  its  disappointments,  its  tempta- 
tions and  despairs,  are  of  priceless  importance.  I  surely  would  not 
undervalue  what  the  Bible  teaches  us  in  regard  to  meeting  the  joys  and 
successes  of  life.  There  is  no  other  book  in  the  world  which  even  faintly 
matches  it  in  this  respect;  but,  after  all,  it  has  chiefly  impressed  itself 
upon  humanity  "as  a  very  present  help  in  time  of  trouble;"  and  it  is  in 
this  regard  that  I  am  called  upon  to  consider  it  today. 

The  three  pre-eminent  facts  which  the  Bible  impresses  upon  the 
wounded  or  despairing  human  spirit  are:  (i)  the  Divine  interest  in  our 
daily  affairs;  (2)  the  Divine  self-sacrifice  which  has  atoned  for  our  sins, 
and  (3)  the  Divine  idea  of  discipline  which  has  justified  our  sorrows. 
It  is  not  too  much  say  that  these  three  facts  have,  to  those  who  believe 
in  them,  absolutely  changed  the  whole  aspect  of  the  world.  The  knowl- 
edge of  the  fundamental  laws  of  nature  which  tells  us  that  fire  burns, 
and  water  drowns,  and  that  gravitation  draws  us  downward,  is  not  more 
absolutely  essential  to  human  life  than  these  three  spiritual  truths. 
To  the  Christian  the  world  would  not  be  colder  should  its  temperature 
sink  to  the  absolute  zero,  than  it  would  be  were  he  certainly  convinced 
that  these  three  principles  were  illusions.  That  God  cares,  that  God 
has  shown  it  through  His  Son,  and  that  God  has  His  purposes  in  tem- 
pering us — these  are  the  great  longitudinal  beams  of  steel  thatunder- 
gird,  in  the  great  ship  of  life,  the  fabric  from  bow  to  rudder. 

You  find  this  conviction  cropping  out  in  the  most  marvelous  and 
unexpected  places  in  individual  lives,  even  in  those  of  lapsed  Christians. 
It  comes  up  at  the  deathbed  of  many  a  man  who  has  led  a  terrible  life 
for  long  years,  but  has  never  been  able  to  forget  entirely  the  Bible 
voices.  The  rude  sailor  who  blasphemes  a  dozen  times  will  often  be 
restrained  on  the  next  occasion  by  some  Bible  memory.  The  hard 
soldier  places  his  mother's  Bible  next  his  heart.  In  hours  of  danger 
and  distress  the  Bible  promises  and  warnings  come  trooping  back  to 
lost  travelers,  or  friendless  fugitives,  or  great  explorers.  In  the  great 
India  mutiny  of  1857,  when  a  band  of  English  women  and  children 
were  flying  from  the  mutineers,  we  are  told  how  their  courage  was  sus- 


THE  BIBLE  IN  THE  EMERGENCIES  OF  LIFE  15 

tained,  and  their  souls  uplifted  through  all  their  terrible  dangers,  by 
the  torn  leaf  of  a  Bible  which  one  of  them  possessed.  It  contained  only 
a  fragment  of  one  of  the  chapters  of  the  prophet  Isaiah,  but  that  chapter 
chanced  to  be  one  in  which  the  prophet  comforts  the  perturbed  spirit 
of  forlorn  Israel.  It  contained  the  Divine  promise  of  deliverance  to  those 
who  trusted  in  God,  and  pledged  the  help  of  the  Divine  Arm  to  those 
who,  in  the  midst  of  dark  waters,  steadied  themselves  by  leaning  against 
the  Rock  of  Ages.  Sustained  by  this  promise,  the  poor  fugitives,  reading 
and  rereading  it  amid  their  crushing  anxieties,  fared  on  with  unfailing 
courage;  and  when  at  last  they  were  rescued,  they  thanked  their  Maker 
for  that  heavenly  Voice  which,  sounding  down  through  the  ages  from 
a  far-off  antiquity,  seemed  to  them  like  some  fresh  and  bubbling  spring 
in  the  wilderness,  which  found  its  source  in  mountains  beyond  the  hori- 
zon, invisible  save  to  the  eye  of  faith. 

There  is  a  striking  passage  in  Stanley's  account  of  his  marvelous 
journey  across  Africa,  which  shows  how  under  the  hardest,  sternest, 
manliest  exterior  may  live  a  spiritual  trust  in  God's  aid  drawn  from  the 
Bible  records  of  the  past: 

Constrained  at  the  darkest  hour  to  humbly  confess  that  without  God's  aid 
I  was  helpless,  I  vowed  a  vow  in  the  forest's  solitude  that  I  would  confess  His 
help  before  men.  A  silence  as  of  death  was  around  about  me.  In  this  physical 
and  mental  distress  alone,  I  besought  God  to  give  me  back  my  companions,  whose 
fate  was  a  mystery.  Before  turning  in  for  the  night,  I  resumed  my  reading  of 
the  Bible  as  usual.  I  had  already  read  the  book  through  from  beginning  to  end, 
and  was  now  in  Deuteronomy  for  the  second  reading.  I  came  to  the  verses  wherein 
Moses  exhorts  Joshua  in  those  fine  lines,  "Be  strong,  and  of  good  courage,  fear 
not,  nor  be  afraid  of  them;  for  the  Lord  thy  God,  He  it  is  that  doth  go  with  thee; 
He  will  not  fail  thee  nor  forsake  thee."    It  encouraged  me  to  go  on  and  be  confident. 

I  am  tempted  to  add  an  illustration  out  of  my  own  experience.  Some 
years  ago  I  was  descending  the  steps  of  a  building  in  New  York,  after 
having  made  arrangements  there  regarding  the  funeral  of  one  very 
closely  related  to  me,  both  by  family  and  by  affection.  As  I  reached 
the  sidewalk,  I  met,  almost  face  to  face,  an  old  friend  who  might  have 
been  termed,  without  exaggeration,  one  of  the  very  first,  if  not  the  first, 
in  character,  responsibilities,  and  wealth  among  the  citizens  in  that 
great  city.  He  had  but  lately  undergone  an  experience  even  sadder 
than  my  own.  As  I  told  him  my  story,  his  eyes  filled  with  tears,  and  an 
expression  of  deepest  sympathy  showed  itself  in  his  countenance. 
Grasping  me  by  both  hands,  he  said  to  me  in  a  tone  of  solemn  convic- 
tion: "Oh,  what  would  life  be  worth  if  it  were  not  for  our  faith  in 
Christ?"  It  seemed  to  me,  as  I  heard  him,  that  I  could  have  gladly 
seen  those  words  written  in  letters  of  gold  over  the  doorway  to  every 
home  in  America. 


i6  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

Such  illustrations  as  these  tend  to  make  clear  to  us  one  of  the  great 
sovereign  truths  of  life,  viz.,  that  God's  supreme  gift  to  the  world  has 
been  the  gift  of  the  Bible.  It  is  the  one  solace  for  all  the  troubles  of  the 
world.  By  the  glow  which  illumines  its  pages  we  do  indeed  see  life  as 
a  pilgrimage,  and  are  taught  that  we  are  "to  seek  a  City  which  hath 
foundations,"  that  we  are  to  await  fulfilments,  and  that,  as  the  old 
Spanish  proverb  says, "  God  does  not  pay  His  wages  on  Saturday  night." 

But  all  this  does  not,  and  ought  not  to,  diminish  the  innocent  pleas- 
ures of  living.  The  Christian  is  essentially  a  cheerful  man.  The  main 
distinction  between  his  life  and  that  of  others  is  that  he  works  with  larger 
and  longer  plans,  and  sees  God's  purposes,  and  God's  prizes  waiting 
where  the  world  fails  to  discern  them. 

It  was  at  one  time  my  frequent  privilege  to  sit  by  the  couch  of  a 
lady  who,  for  more  years  than  one  would  care  to  count,  had  been  bed- 
ridden with  a  disease  which  no  human  skill  could  cure.  On  her  bed  lay, 
almost  always,  an  open  Bible,  and  she  sometimes  said  with  a  smile 
that,  whatever  the  pain  might  be,  she  had  at  least  the  privilege  of  the 
young  prophet  Daniel,  of  whom  we  read  in  the  Scriptures  that  when- 
ever he  prayed  he  had  "his  windows  always  opened  toward  Jerusalem." 
Here,  men  and  brethren,  one  found  the  spirit  which  the  Bible  was  given 
to  create.  Here  in  that  room  was  the  essence  of  Christianity.  Who 
among  the  most  powerful,  the  most  gifted,  the  wealthiest  of  the  sons  of 
men,  would  not,  in  hours  when  their  souls  are  dark  with  anguish  and 
bereavement,  gladly  give  all  that  he  has  valued  most  for  the  light  stream- 
ing in  through  the  windows  of  the  Bible  hope,  as  the  enfranchised  soul 
gazes  out  through  joyful  eyes  toward  the  streets  of  Jerusalem  ? 


IMPORTANCE  OF  THE  BIBLE  AS  A  FACTOR  IN  PROMOT- 
ING SPIRITUAL  EFFICIENCY  AND  GROWTH 

REV.  EDWARD  JUDSON,  D.D., 

PASTOR  MEMORIAL  BAPTIST  CHURCH,   NEW  YORK  CITY,   PROFESSOR  OF  HOMILETICS 
IN   THE  UNIVERSITY  OF   CHICAGO 

My  subject  is  an  innocent  one.  I  have  an  impression  that  the  Bible 
is  an  important  factor  in  the  promotion  of  spiritual  efficiency  and 
growth,  and  I  do  not  object  to  imparting  that  impression  to  others. 
Indeed,  no  one  in  this  presence  would  dispute  this  proposition.  It 
certainly  is  believed  by  the  holy  church  universal — by  which,  I  suppose, 
we  mean  all  good  Christians  everywhere — that  the  Bible  is  an  important 
factor  in  the  promotion  of  spiritual  efficiency  and  growth.  After  all, 
it  is  the  chief  part  of  our  task  as  teachers  and  preachers,  not  so  much 
to  bring  in  some  new-fangled  thing,  as  to  reiterate  and  to  emphasize, 
to  enforce  and  to  clothe  with  perennial  freshness,  the  great  primal, 
cosmic  truths  of  Christianity.  As  Herbert  Spencer  puts  it:  "It  is  only 
by  varied  iteration  that  alien  conceptions  can  be  forced  upon  reluctant 
minds."  The  office  of  the  Holy  Spirit  Himself  is  not  to  impart  some 
new  truth,  but  to  bring  to  our  remembrance  the  things  of  Christ. 

As  I  understand  it,  it  is  not  the  purpose  of  this  great  Association  to 
inaugurate  a  new  system  of  doctrine,  but  to  bring  freshly  to  our  conscious- 
ness the  ancient  verities  of  the  Christian  faith.  The  real  orthodoxy  of  the 
present  day  consists,  not  in  a  loose,  slippery  hold  upon  a  solid  mass  of 
dogmas,  but  in  our  fervent  and  intense  grasp  of  the  few  essential,  ele- 
mental truths  that  underhe  Christian  consciousness  everywhere.  It  is 
a  mistake  for  me  to  be  always  harping  upon  my  divergences  from  the 
views  held  by  my  fellow-Christians.  Rather  let  me  realize  in  a  new 
way  the  simple,  old-fashioned  truths  that  we  believe  in  common,  and 
that  clamp  us  together  as  with  hooks  of  steel.  Even  if  I  seem  to  have 
got  hold  of  some  new  truth,  let  me  be  slow  to  discredit  and  to  denounce 
the  old.  I  need  not  fear  that  people  will  remain  long  unaware  of  my 
discovery.  Genuine  truth  is  possessed  of  a  kind  of  atmospheric  diffu- 
siveness. The  church  has  a  way  of  quietly  laying  its  errors,  one  by  one, 
upon  the  shelf,  and  forgetting  to  take  them  down  again.  Infant  damna- 
tion and  a  material  hell,  once  devoutly  believed,  are  cases  in  point. 
We  simply  wake  up  some  fine  morning  and  are  aware  that  we  do  not 
believe  that  way  any  more.  "Lo,  he  was  not;  I  sought  him,  but  he 
could  not  be  found."     It  is  a  species  of  intellectual  frivoHty  for  me  to 

17 


i8  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

go  around  knocking  away  what  seems  to  me  the  defective  props  upon 
which  I  see  my  fellow- Christians  leaning,  unless  I  am  sure  that  I  can 
replace  them  with  something  better.  Rather  let  me  imitate  the  mighty 
reserve  of  the  divine  Pedagogue,  who  said:  "I  have  yet  many  things  to 
say  unto  you,  but  ye  cannot  bear  them  now."  He  could  embrace  the 
whole  truth  in  His  palm,  and  yet  unclose  only  His  little  finger. 

The  body  of  literature  which  we  call  the  Bible — the  crystallization 
in  human  speech  of  the  best  religious  consciousness  of  mankind,  express- 
ing itself  through  a  period  of  many  centuries — seems  to  be  exactly 
the  food  required  by  the  spiritual  appetite  of  man.  We  may  say  of  that 
Book  what  Daniel  Webster  said  of  Massachusetts:  "There  she  stands. 
Look  at  her."  As  long  as  man  possesses  a  spiritual  nature  transcending 
the  body  and  the  soul  that  he  shares  with  the  lower  animals ;  so  long  as 
he  is  not  mere  beast;  so  long  as  there  is  that  in  his  being  which  feels  the 
difference  between  right  and  wrong,  and  aspires,  and  prays,  so  long 
will  he  instinctively  resort  to  the  Bible  and  find  there  the  food  adapted 
to  his  higher  self.  Independently  of  theories  of  inspiration,  and  of  the 
higher  criticism — which  ought  perhaps  to  be  called  higher  appreciation 
— apart  from  questions  of  origin  and  date  and  structure  and  authorship 
and  readings  and  canon,  the  sixty-six  books  contain  just  what  is  needed 
for  the  spiritual  nature  of  all  alike — the  little  child,  the  old  woman  in 
the  chimney  corner,  the  profligate  and  the  saint,  the  illiterate  and  the 
sage.  Sir  Walter  Scott,  when  dying,  asked  to  be  read  to.  "From 
what  book  ?  "  inquired  his  friend,  glancing  toward  the  richly  furnished 
library,  and  the  answer  came:  "Need  you  ask  ?  There  is  but  one."  I 
am  reminded  of  the  old  heathen  woman  in  Burma,  who,  when  she  heard 
for  the  first  time  the  message  of  the  cross,  let  down  her  long  flowing 
hair,  and  said:  "These  tresses  have  grown  white  waiting  to  hear  this 
story."  At  this  spring  the  saints  and  the  martyrs  of  all  the  ages  have 
slaked  their  thirst.  Explore  their  pages  and  you  will  find  no  great 
thought  that  cannot  be  traced  back  to  this  source.  So  that,  within  the 
realm  of  literature  relating  to  conduct  and  to  religion,  one  is  tempted  to 
generalize:   If  it  be  true,  it  is  not  new;  if  it  be  new,  it  is  not  true. 

The  Christian  does  not  read  the  Bible  merely  for  its  literary  value. 
To  him  it  is  a  devotional  book.  He  descries  mirrored  in  its  limpid 
depths  the  very  image  of  God.  He  reads  the  Old  Testament  because  it 
yields  a  pure  and  exalted  conception  of  God.  No  such  thought  of  God 
can  be  found  in  any  other  than  Christian  literature.  Somehow  or  other, 
out  of  the  consciousness  of  the  Hebrew  race  there  emerged  an  image  of 
God  infinitely  superior  to  that  found  in  the  literature  of  any  other  ancient 
people.    Just  as  in  our  own  individual  lives  things  keep  happening  to  us 


THE  BIBLE  AS  A  FACTOR  IN  SPIRITUAL  GROWTH        19 

all  the  time,  day  after  day,  and,  through  processes  of  reflection  upon 
these  happenings,  we  form  little  by  little  a  clear  conception  of  the  God 
back  of  them,  thinking  of  Him  as  a  Being  either  vast  and  cruel  or  else 
infinitely  tender  and  loving — like  a  mother  bending  over  her  infant  who 
is  uneasy  and  in  pain — so  the  Hebrew  race,  in  its  upward  struggle,  kept 
all  the  time,  as  we  believe,  under  the  brooding  influence  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  drawing  inferences  from  things  that  happened  to  them — a  defeat 
here,  a  victory  there — and  thus  gradually  came  into  the  full  conscious- 
ness of  Jehovah,  a  Being  of  blended  majesty  and  pity,  infinitely  tran- 
scending any  thought  of  God  held  by  contemporaneous  races.  This 
idea  first  took  shape  in  the  minds  of  sages,  saints,  and  prophets — men 
of  spiritual  insight  who  thought  profoundly  upon  current  events  and 
who 

Dipt  into  the  future  far  as  human  eye  could  see, 

Saw  the  vision  of  the  world  and  all  the  wonder  that  would  be. 

In  their  writings  glimmer  this  image  of  the  Eternal;  as  in  the  ninetieth 
Psalm  and  in  the  fortieth  chapter  of  Isaiah. 

The  Old  Testament,  then,  seems  to  be  made  up  of  two  streams 
flowing  along  in  a  single  channel — history  and  literature.  On  one  side, 
we  find  the  chronicle  of  those  happenings  which  formed  a  kind  of  steep, 
perilous  pathway  along  which  this  strenuous  race  groped  its  way  and  at 
length  found  a  God,  eternal  and  holy,  and  yet  full  of  mercy  and  com- 
passion. On  the  other  side,  we  have  a  sublime  literature,  in  which  the 
choicest  spirits  of  the  race  seem  to  be  throwing  out  words  at  this  vast 
conception  of  God,  and  endeavoring  to  foreshorten  Him  within  the  gaze 
of  their  contemporaries.  Such  a  thought  of  God  must,  in  the  nature  of 
the  case,  be  anthropomorphic.  He  must  be  pictured  as  a  man — with 
eyes  and  hands  and  feet.  And  this  Hebraic  conception  of  God  would 
inevitably  be  subject  to  the  law  of  evolution,  being  faint  and  crude  in 
its  earlier  stages,  and  only  gradually  approaching  distinctness  and  per- 
fection. What  was  right  in  earlier  ages  might  be  wrong  later  on.  The 
morality  even  of  the  Ten  Commandments  is  negative,  superficial,  incom- 
plete. They  should  never  be  inscribed  in  a  Christian  church,  except 
perhaps  for  their  historic  suggestiveness,  indicating  God's  deahng  with 
a  primitive  race.  WTiile  the  moral  principles  of  which  they  are  the 
concrete  and  symboHc  expression  are  universally  and  eternally  obliga- 
tory, as  laws  they  are  no  more  binding  upon  us  Christians  than  the  laws 
of  England  are  binding  upon  Americans.  All  their  ethical  meaning 
finds  a  nobler  and  purer  and  more  positive  expression  in  the  teachings 
of  Christ  and  of  His  apostles. 

This  august  reflection  of  God  that  scintillates  here  and  there  on  the 


20  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCL\TION 

broken  surface  of  the  Old  Testament  history  and  literature  seems  thus, 
after  all,  only  dim  and  shadowy,  partial  and  progressive.  It  could  not 
make  the  worshiper  perfect.  Only  in  the  Christ  of  the  New  Testament 
does  it  finally  achieve  its  full-orbed  splendor.  The  twilight  of  Old 
Testament  conjecture  brightens  into  the  dawn  of  New  Testament 
revelation.  Here  we  find  the  divine  personality  of  Jesus  portrayed  in 
exquisite  outlines.  His  life  and  His  teachings  narrated  and  interpreted 
by  those  who  stood  closest  to  Him.  Such  a  character  surely  could  not 
have  been  invented  by  Galilean  peasants.  That  was  not  an  age  of 
novels.  The  production  of  characters  out  of  whole  cloth  is  the  work  of 
transcendent  genius  like  that  of  George  Eliot.  In  Christ  we  have  the 
heavenly  Father  unveiled.  Christ  not  only  teaches  us  to  pray,  "Our 
Father  which  art  in  heaven,"  but  He  says:  "He  that  hath  seen  Me, 
hath  seen  the  Father."  He  is  the  express  image  of  the  divine  Person. 
The  infinite  contracts  itself,  so  as  to  come  within  the  embrace  of  man's 
thought  and  affection.  The  divine,  in  simple  and  pathetic  fashion, 
reveals  itself  in  a  human  life. 

So  the  All-great  were  the  All-loving  too. 

So  through  the  thunder  comes  a  human  voice 

Saying,  O  heart  I  made,  a  heart  beats  here! 

Face,  my  hands  fashioned,  see  it  in  myself. 

Thou  hast  no  power  nor  mayst  conceive  of  mine. 

But  love  I  gave  thee  with  myself  to  love, 

And  thou  must  love  me  who  have  died  for  thee. 


SECOND    SESSION 

RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  IN  THE  HOME 


THE  RELIGIOUS  OPPORTUNITY  OF  THE  HOME 
IRA  LANDRITH,  LL.D., 

GENERAL   SECRETARY  RELIGIOUS   EDUCATION   ASSOCIATION,    CHICAGO 

In  the  holy  war  which  is  being  waged  by  the  Rehgious  Education 
Association — a  war  against  ignorance,  superstition,  and  vice — it  seeks 
the  necessary  triple  alliance  of  the  school,  the  church,  and  the  home — 
these  three,  but  the  greatest  of  these  is  the  home.  Wise  men  in  the 
long  ago  journeyed  from  afar  with  gifts  in  search  of  the  Babe  of 
Bethlehem;  and  no  wise  man,  no  company  of  wise  men,  in  our  time 
ever  engaged  in  worthier  quest  than  is  the  babe  of  America;  nor  ever 
bore  better  gifts  than  it  is  proposed  by  this  Association  to  lay  before 
the  children  of  our  households.  The  spectacle  of  this  great  company 
of  the  captains  of  religious  and  educational  industry  in  the  United 
States  and  Canada,  spending  a  day  in  the  consideration  of  the  problems 
and  claims  of  the  home,  should  confirm  the  faith  of  this  Association's 
friends,  and  as  effectually  confound  the  inconsiderate  criticisms  of  those 
few  enemies  who  have  professed  to  believe,  either  that  the  movement 
might  be  dangerous,  or  that  it  might  not  be  definite  and  practical. 

Among  the  first  of  the  Religious  Education  Association's  appeals 
is  this,  that  home-making  and  home-keeping  should  now  be  studied 
as  seriously  and  as  scientifically  as  ever  were  the  problems  of  the  church 
and  the  school.  A  Department  of  the  Home  has  been  set  to  the  task, 
tremendous  but  welcome,  of  finding  a  way  whereby  those  who  are 
doing  so  much  for  the  church  and  the  school  may  be  equally  helpful 
to  the  firesides  of  all  the  people;  and  those  who  compose  the  member- 
ship of  this  Department  have  gone  about  their  duty  with  an  eagerness 
that  means  nothing  less  than  that  they  regard  the  subject  as  meriting 
the  best  endeavors  of  the  devoutest  and  wisest,  deep  enough  for  the 
philosophy  of  the  ablest.  They  believe  that  the  hour  has  struck  for  a 
great  federation  of  all  men  and  movements  looking  to  the  home's  better- 
ment by  true  religious  education. 

The  theme  is  the  most  popular  one  with  which  pulpit  or  press  ever 
deals.  Whether  the  subject  has  been  neglected  until  it  is  new,  or 
whether  it  is  the  one  theme  in  which  all  are  concerned,  it  is  a  fact  that 


22  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

thoughtful,  prayerful  sermons  on  the  home  are  accounted  the  best  of  all 
sermons.  Need  of  improved  conditions  is  universally  felt.  Better 
homes  and  better  home  training  are  prerequisites  of  all  righteous  reforms. 
Unnumbered  thousands  of  eager  souls  in  the  domestic  wilderness  are 
looking  for  a  Moses, 

Modern  sociology,  which  is  but  another  name  for  primitive  Christian- 
ity, has  led  us  back  from  the  crowd  to  the  cottage,  from  the  multitude 
to  the  mansion,  from  the  throng  to  the  individual  child  in  the  home; 
and  we  must  follow  that  leading,  for  in  it  extends  a  divine  Hand.  The 
simplest,  strongest,  best  of  all  religion  is  family  religion.  The  wisest 
of  all  the  recent  intelligent  utterances  of  such  movements  as  Christian 
Endeavor  have  been  in  behalf  of  fireside  rehgious  exercise  and  training. 
The  League  for  the  Protection  of  the  Family  is  another  eloquent  voice 
uttering  the  same  general  desire  for  putting  first  things  first.  Why  may 
not  the  Religious  Education  Association,  having  already  won  the 
allegiance  of  very  many  of  those  who  are  able  to  do  the  best  work  for  so 
worthy  a  cause,  become  the  rallying  center  for  all  those  who  believe 
that  there  should  be  for  the  promotion  of  the  home's  best  interests  a 
champion  powerful  enough  to  attract  instant,  favorable,  and  universal 
attention  ? 

Leaving  to  others  the  scientific  and  theoretical  phases  of  this  day's 
discussions,  and  disclaiming  either  the  qualification  to  deal  with  the 
matter  profoundly,  or  the  disposition  to  commit  this  Association  to 
any  of  its  General  Secretary's  individual  views,  let  me  mention  very 
simply  a  few  of  these  same  individual  views  on  the  Religious  Opportunity 
of  the  Home. 

The  home's  opportunity  is  in  the  nature  of  a  first  chance,  and  the 
only  abiding  one.  Graduation  from  the  University  of  the  Home  never 
comes  in  four  years.  The  students  there  stay  to  manhood.  They 
come  back  in  the  years  of  parenthood  for  special  home-making  study. 
In  old  age,  with  grandchildren  as  their  teachers,  they  matriculate  for 
blessed  post-graduate  courses.  The  church  starts  later,  and  its  influ- 
ence is  comparatively  occasional  or  periodical;  hence  the  church  may 
successfully  undertake  only  to  supplement,  and  never  to  supplant, 
the  home  in  religious  education.  In  the  church  there  is  a  weekly,  or  a 
semi- weekly,  Bible  opening;  in  the  home  there  should  be  an  always 
open  Bible.  In  the  church  the  pastor  has  not  time  for  more  preaching 
than  parents  need.  In  the  home  properly  trained  Christian  parents 
have  the  opportunity  to  be  living  epistles  to  be  read  every  day  and  hour. 
For  the  same  reasons  the  Sunday  school,  young  people's  society,  and  all 
of  the  similar  agencies  of  the  church  are  inadequate.     These  are  all 


THE  RELIGIOUS  OPPORTUNITY  OF  THE  HOME  23 

good,  and  all  must  be  encouraged;  but  the  church  with  its  auxiliaries 
cannot  afford  to  imitate  the  paternalism  of  the  state,  nor  must  it  encour- 
age the  impression,  which  is  getting  too  far  abroad,  that  the  church 
should  have  a  monopoly  of  the  rehgious  instruction  a  child,  or  a  man, 
should  receive.  The  religious  education  provided  by  the  church  is 
valuable  as  a  supplement  to  the  work  of  even  the  ideal  home,  and  it 
is  indispensable  to  the  child  of  the  godless  household.  Therefore  it  is 
perhaps  among  the  least  of  our  dangers,  but  it  may  still  be  accounted 
a  real  danger,  that,  amidst  the  multitudinous  demands  made  upon  the 
home  by  the  church,  we  may  conclude  that  we  should  take  our  religion 
from  the  home  to  the  church  and  keep  it  there,  whereas  we  need  the 
most  our  religion  in  the  home.  For  many  recent  years  our  homes  have 
been  contributing  to  a  central  place  of  worship.  We  would  now  do 
well  if  we  should  learn  that  a  church  multiplies  itself  when  it  makes  all 
its  homes  temples  of  God,  and  that  a  church  thus  multiplied  can  afford 
occasionally  to  have  a  few  empty  pews;  for  such  a  church  will  never 
be  empty  when  it  needs  to  be  filled.  Why  can  we  not  comprehend  the 
truth  that  what  pastors  and  churches  most  need  is  not  great  audiences 
made  up  of  individuals  from  numerous  houses,  but  the  sincere,  constant, 
and  consistent  co-operation  of  even  a  few  devoutly  worshiping  homes  ? 
Patriarchal  methods  were  better  than  are  some  of  ours. 

The  opportunity  of  the  home  in  adopting  and  adapting  the  methods 
of  the  so-called  new  education  is  also  in  the  nature  of  a  first  chance; 
for  everything  new  that  is  true  is  natural;  and  all  that  is  natural  in 
education  leads  straight  to  the  fireside,  which  is  the  place  of  all  places 
to  make  religion  normal.  Whenever  our  homes  are  true  temples,  all 
temples  of  righteous  worship  become  attractive  to  us.  There  is  no  such 
problem  as  how  to  induce  children  to  love  the  church,  if  they  have  first 
been  trained  in  the  home  to  love  Him  whose  home  the  church  is.  Because 
God  hath  ordained  that  the  child  taught  in  holy  things  by  his  own  par- 
ents shall  love  these  teachers,  the  tuition  becomes  easy  and  effective,  for 
love  lightens  the  labor  of  learning.  The  parent's  right  to  teach  his  own 
child  the  truth  about  salvation  and  the  Savior  assumes  the  full  propor- 
tions of  duty,  when  we  consider  how  God  made  so  easy  and  natural 
every  condition  of  successful  teaching  by  setting  us  together  in  famiHes. 
Affection  being  the  wage,  the  teacher's  toil  will  be  tireless  and  the 
pupil's  toil  pleasant. 

The  modern  kindergarten  merely  opened  the  nursery  door  and 
showed  us  the  ideal  home  schoolroom.  Every  recent  thing  said  at  all 
wisely  about  natural  methods  in  education  has  simply  magnified  the 
home  as  an  educational  institution.     The  fact,  as  old  as  Eden,  has  at 


24  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

last  been  discovered  that  domestic  experiences  and  environments  are 
constantly  exercising  helpfully  the  intellect,  sensibilities,  and  will,  and 
that  means  growth,  and  correct  growth  is  education.  The  home  is  a 
school  of  God's  planting,  and  only  God-planted  schools  are  normal 
schools,  and  truly  scientific. 

The  home's  religious  education  is  unique.  It  cannot  be  delegated 
either  to  the  church  or  to  the  school,  to  the  reformatory  or  to  the  mission 
Sunday  school.  Children's  Home-Finding  Societies  are  in  the  hands  of 
men  who  have  learned  that  state  institutions  and  orphanages,  however 
well  managed,  can  never  do  the  work  of  a  home.  Our  great  problem, 
therefore,  is  the  elevation  of  all  homes — to  make  the  good  better  and 
the  bad  good. 

Before  the  work  can  be  hopefully  undertaken,  some  hindrances 
must  be  recognized  and  removed;  for  it  is  the  real,  and  not  an  ideal, 
home  with  which  we  shall  have  to  deal.  It  is  not  the  home  where  the 
father  is  a  psychologist,  the  mother  a  pedagogical  expert,  and  the 
children  few — strange  coincidence,  that — but  it  is  the  average  home 
which  must  be  beneficently  approached.  Its  willingness  and  ability 
to  attack  hard  problems,  as  they  are  found,  and  not  as  it  would  like 
to  find  them — conditions  and  not  theories — proves  the  worth  of  any 
movement.  If  the  Religious  Education  Association,  now  on  trial, 
wins  its  case  before  the  jury  of  public  opinion,  it  must  go  beyond  the 
rare  ideal  home  to  the  numerous  real  ones;  to  the  homes,  not  only  of 
the  educated  and  well-to-do,  but  also  of  the  poor  and  the  unlearned; 
to  the  remotest  rural  home,  whence,  untutored  as  it  is,  comes  already 
much  of  our  virtue  and  success ;  and  to  the  squalid  city  tenement  out  of 
which  crawls  so  much  of  filth  and  vice.  The  ample  reward  of  so  great  a 
labor  is  really  the  solution  of  all  other  problems,  for  in  the  last  analysis 
all  problems  are  problems  of  the  home.  Purify  that  spring  and  you 
cleanse  the  whole  stream  of  human  society:  and  that  were  pay  enough 
for  any  service. 

Of  course,  there  are  difficulties;  among  them  the  heedlessness  of 
home-making,  the  easiness  of  home-breaking,  the  unhomelike  places 
where  famihes  live,  the  too  strenuous  hves  we  lead,  the  too  short  hours 
we  spend  with  our  children,  the  indifference  of  fathers  to  their  half  of 
the  duties  of  child-training,  the  presence  of  the  hireling  in  the  nursery 
and  of  the  mother  in  the  club — these  are  discouragements  to  be  over- 
come in  promoting  religious  education  in  the  home;  but  a  difficulty 
recognized  is  already  half  removed. 

The  situation  is  in  no  sense  hopeless.  The  time  is  coming  early  in 
this  best  of  the  centuries  when  more  attention  will  be  paid  to  the  gaits 


THE  RELIGIOUS  OPPORTUNITY  OF  THE  HOME  25 

of  the  prospective  son-in-law  than  to  the  qualities  of  a  roadster  about 
to  be  purchased;  when  divorces  will  be  more  difficult;  when  houses 
take  the  places  of  flats  and  tenement  apartments;  when  parents  will 
take  time  to  do  necessary  teaching  in  the  greatest  of  all  schools;  when 
the  father  will  quit  trying  to  be  religious  in  his  wife's  name;  and  when 
mothers  will  set  themselves  down,  cheerfully  and  with  maternal  conse- 
cration and  zeal,  for  all  needed  time  in  their  own  nurseries.  Until 
then  religious  education  in  the  home  will  limp  painfully  and  move 
slowly;  but  then  it  will  go  forth  unimpeded,  because  then  we  shall 
have  rebuilt  the  old-fashioned  family  altar,  or  we  shall  have  erected 
something  better  with  the  same  design,  something  still  more  pleasing  to 
God  who  delights  in  progress;  and  then,  with  more  religion  in  the 
home,  we  shall  have  fewer  skeletons  in  the  closet. 


THE  ART  OF  TELLING  BIBLE  STORIES 

PROFESSOR  RICHARD  G.  MOULTON,  Ph.D., 

THE  UNIVERSITY  OF   CHICAGO,   CHICAGO 

I.  He  who  would  effectively  tell  a  Bible  story  must  really  believe 
that  what  he  has  to  tell  is  a  ^^ story J^  Diversion  of  his  thoughts  to  what 
may  seem  more  important  than  story  may  of  itself  be  sufficient  to  pro- 
duce failure.  Many  persons  zealous  for  the  Bible  are  attracted  to  the 
idea  of  Bible  stories  by  the  advertising  value  of  the  term:  "Come,  my 
dear,  and  let  me  tell  you  a  nice  Bible  story;"  and  all  the  while,  in  his 
heart  of  hearts,  the  teller  does  not  think  that  it  is  merely  a  story,  but 
under  cover  of  that  attractive  title  hopes  to  get  in  the  application  of  a 
sermon.  This  is  especially  dangerous  in  dealing  with  young  people, 
who  are  of  all  God's  creatures  the  most  sincere  and  most  readily  respond 
to  sincerity.  In  all  cases  homiletic  purpose,  and  all  other  by-aims, 
obstruct  Hterary  effect.  Spiritual  edification  is  one  of  the  many  regions 
in  which  the  spiritual  principle  applies  that  he  who  would  save  his  life 
must  be  prepared  to  lose  it.  Our  first  duty  to  a  Bible  story  is  to  love  it; 
its  effect  we  may  leave  to  the  divine  Artist. 

This  raises  the  question :  What  is  a  "  story  "  ?  A  question  important 
in  all  literary  art,  and  especially  important  in  application  to  the  litera- 
ture we  call  the  Bible.  History  and  story  are  both  narrative.  History 
is  a  limited  form  of  narration,  limiting  itself  by  its  appeal  to  the  sense 
of  record  and  the  connection  of  things.  Story  is  free  narration;  in  its 
appeal  it  takes  in  the  imagination,  the  emotions,  and  the  whole  spirit- 
ual nature.  The  popular  idea  of  story  confuses  between  imaginary 
and  imaginative;  invented  matter  cannot  be  history,  but  the  converse 
will  not  hold  good,  and  matter  of  fact  can  perfectly  well  be  story  if  its 
presentation  is  such  as  to  touch  the  imagination  and  the  emotions.  In 
most  literatures,  story  and  history  are  distinct;  story  has  a  matter  and 
a  form  of  its  own,  and  is  called  epic  poetry. 

In  the  literature  of  the  Bible,  story  is  part  of  the  national  history, 
and  is  attracted  to  the  prose  form  of  the  history  which  surrounds  it. 
The  narration  which  extends  from  Genesis  to  Esther  is  found,  in  its 
literary  analysis,  to  be  an  alternation  between  the  two  forms:  a  frame- 
work and  connective  tissue  of  bare  history,  with  the  high  Hghts  and 
spiritual  essence  of  the  whole  given  by  brilliant  stories.  To  appreciate 
the  distinction  it  is  only  necessary  to  read  continuously  through  the 

26 


THE  ART  OF  TELLING  BIBLE  STORIES  27 

book  of  Genesis;  as  he  proceeds,  the  reader  is  conscious  of  quite  different 
kinds  of  appeal  that  are  being  made  from  time  to  time  to  his  literary- 
sense.  At  one  time  he  is  made  to  cover  long  historic  epochs  in  the 
course  of  two  or  three  verses;  intricate  relationships  of  world-peoples 
are  being  indicated  by  nothing  more  than  a  string  of  proper  names. 

He  comes  upon  the  name  of  Joseph,  and  it  is  as  if  a  curtain  were 
suddenly  lifted;  the  reader  is  face  to  face  with  real  life,  warm  with  all 
the  attractions  of  story.  A  strong  personaUty  is  before  him,  asserting 
itself  in  raw  boyhood,  with  doting  affection  on  one  side  of  it  and  family 
feud  on  the  other;  asserting  itself  under  conditions  of  slavery,  until 
Joseph's  master  knows  nothing  of  the  management  of  his  household 
save  the  bread  he  puts  into  his  mouth;  asserting  itself  in  prison,  in  the 
high  life  of  the  court  to  which  Joseph  has  been  that  moment  lifted  from 
a  dungeon.  As  a  picturesque  background  to  the  central  personality 
there  are  glimpses  of  nomad  shepherd  life,  of  caravan  merchant  life, 
of  gorgeous  and  stately  Egypt.  Dream  lore  adds  shading  to  the  picture, 
mysteries  unveiling  themselves  only  as  they  become  fulfilled.  Sudden 
mutations  of  fortune  appear — the  commonest  inspiration  of  the  story- 
teller; his  finest  finesse  of  complex  situation  is  added  where  Joseph's 
brethren  appear  before  him,  recognized  but  not  recognizing;  what  the 
mere  story-teller  would  call  "playing"  with  the  situation  is  here  elabo- 
rated in  what  is  more  than  play,  as  Joseph's  contrived  perplexities  drive 
his  brethren  through  turns  of  moral  experience,  changing  the  men  who 
sold  one  brother  for  a  slave  into  the  men  who  will  sacrifice  themselves 
or  their  children  to  save  another  brother  for  their  father's  old  age. 
Plot  of  story  becomes  providence  as  Joseph  reveals  himself,  and  makes 
note  how  in  the  past  sin  his  brethren,  instead  of  compassing  his  own 
destruction,  were  providing  the  future  savior  for  Egypt  and  the  famished 
nations.  The  idyllic  picture  of  the  migration  of  Jacob  and  his  family 
to  the  land  of  Goshen  provides  the  romantic  conclusion  to  the  story. 

But  as  our  reader  of  Genesis  proceeds,  the  curtain  drops;  he  is  again 
following  economic  history  sketched  in  a  few  lines  of  narrative.  And 
this  case  is  only  typical:  this  interplay  of  history  and  story  is  a  specific 
feature  of  the  Bible  among  the  great  literatures  of  the  world.  This 
literary  distinction  has  an  important  bearing  on  the  subject  before  us, 
and  will  suggest  two  notes  on  the  art  of  telling  Bible  stories. 

2.  The  proper  preparation  of  the  story-teller  is  that  he  should 
saturate  himself  with  Bible  story,  but  it  must  be  story  itself,  not  story  and 
history  mixed.  One  of  the  great  difficulties  in  the  literary  study  of  the 
Bible  is  the  fact  that  current  versions,  with  their  monotony  of  chapter 
and  verses,  do  not  indicate  literary  distinctions,  and  thus  do  not  warn 


28  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

the  reader  of  these  transitions  backward  and  forward  between  history 
and  story.  An  entirely  different  kind  of  mental  receptivity  is  needed 
for  the  record  of  history  and  the  creative  sympathies  of  story;  the  ordi- 
nary reader  of  the  Bible  is  in  the  position  of  one  using  a  microscope 
for  successive  objects,  without  the  power  to  adjust  the  focus  as  necessity 
may  require.  My  own  studies  have  strongly  impressed  upon  me  that 
it  is  only  when  we  take  in  the  great  mass  of  Bible  stories,  quite  apart 
from  the  historical  matter  breaking  them  up,  that  we  appreciate  the 
magnificence  of  epic  simplicity  making  story  an  element  of  Biblical 
literature  second  to  none.  These  stories  are  the  Homer  of  the  Bible; 
with  this  difference,  that  connection  with  the  national  history  has 
arrested  them  in  the  second  stage  of  literary  crystallization — the  cycle 
of  successive  narratives — whereas  Greek  stories  have  broken  away  from 
history  and  been  further  remolded  into  an  imaginary  plot. 

3.  But  it  is  an  imperfect  statement  of  the  case  to  say  merely  that 
in  the  Bible  story  and  history  alternate.  There  is  a  correlation  between 
the  two:  the  history  is  a  connective  framework,  the  spirit  of  the  whole 
is  expressed  in  the  stories.  Thus,  in  the  Bible,  story  is  used  as  a  mode 
of  historic  emphasis.  Accordingly,  in  the  art  0}  telling  Bible  stories  the 
perspective  point  of  the  story  must  be  sought  in  the  surrounding  history. 
Is  there  any  contradiction  between  this  third  note  and  the  other  two  ? 
By  no  means.  Bible  stories  are  jewels,  but  jewels  in  a  setting  of  history; 
the  setting  is  no  part  of  the  beauty  of  the  jewel,  but  it  puts  that  beauty 
in  a  position  to  be  seen.  It  is  in  the  preparation,  not  in  the  telling  of 
the  story,  that  the  narrator  must  seek  the  historic  perspective. 

The  patriarchal  history  of  Genesis  is  ht  up  by  stories  of  family  life: 
in  some  we  see  the  care  taken  to  preserve  purity  of  descent;  in  others, 
one  individual  after  another  falls  out  of  the  original  covenant  to  become 
ancestors  of  Edom,  Ishmael,  Moab;  in  the  story  of  the  sacrifice  of 
Isaac  the  special  people  of  God  are  being  devoted  to  their  world-mission. 
With  the  garrulous  pomposity  that  characterizes  the  commonest  com- 
mercial transactions  of  oriental  peoples,  Abraham  bargains  for  a  sepul- 
cher  in  Machpelah;  all  the  detail  is  artistically  justified,  for  Abraham 
and  his  seed  are  still  in  the  nomadic  stage  of  social  growth,  which  has  no 
point  of  fi-xity  except  its  sepulchers;  in  this  simple  act  of  purchase  the 
chosen  nation  is  taking  possession  of  the  Promised  Land.  The  Exodus 
is  the  stage  of  migration  to  the  land  of  promise,  a  stage  also  of  evolution 
into  an  organized  nation.  Twice  only  (in  the  three  Biblical  books 
that  narrate  it)  does  the  Hght  of  epic  story  break  in  upon  the  history: 
at  the  beginning,  the  story  of  the  Plagues  displays  the  cowed  slaves 
who  are  the  raw  material  out  of  which  Israel  is  to  be  made ;  near  the  end, 


THE  ART  OF  TELLING  BIBLE  STORIES  29 

the  epic  of  Balaam — with  curses  unwillingly  changed  into  blessings — 
unveils  the  finished  process  of  an  organized  host  on  the  eve  of  conquest. 

Stories  of  the  heroic  "Judges"  take  color  from  each  crisis  of  history. 
When  the  Bedouin  hordes  of  the  desert  are  the  foe,  countless  as  the 
sand,  with  tawdry  splendor  of  earrings  and  crescents  and  chains  on 
the  camel's  necks,  the  whole  story  of  Gideon  is  motived  by  providential 
scorn  for  the  vanity  of  mere  numbers:  the  obscurest  of  champions  is 
raised  up,  his  huge  army  reduced  to  ten  thousand,  to  three  hundred, 
the  keynote  of  action  struck  by  a  dream  told  in  the  night  with  a  hint  of 
panic  in  the  heart  of  the  vast  host;  Gideon  acts  on  the  hint,  and  his 
strategy  is  the  manufacture  of  panic,  as  the  pitchers  are  broken,  the 
torches  flare  out,  and  with  trumpet  tone  and  shout  the  three  hundred 
charge  down  the  three  slopes,  and  drive  the  unwieldy  mass  of  half- 
awakened  bewilderment  in  headlong  rout  and  slaughter.  When  the 
Samson  stories  make  their  near  approach  to  humor,  it  is  because  the 
historic  work  of  Providence  at  that  point  is  to  be  accompHshed  by  the 
agency  of  laughter:  the  foe  covered  with  ridicule  heartens  an  Israel 
that  had  not  only  been  subdued,  but  been  cowed  into  abjectness. 

It  may  be  asked :  Why  are  we  given  the  long-drawn  story  of  Abime- 
lech,  where  there  is  no  heaven-sent  savior,  but  an  obscure  faction  fight 
with  an  ignoble  end  ?  The  answer  is  clear  when  the  position  of  the 
story  is  caught  in  the  historic  framework — the  exact  center  of  the  transi- 
tion of  Israel  from  a  theocracy  to  a  vulgar  government  of  secular  kings; 
in  this  story  for  the  first  time  a  king  appears  in  Israel,  and  from  his 
mountain  concealment  Jotham  suddenly  flings  out  his  fable  of  scorn 
upon  the  whole  conception  of  kingship:  his  fable  of  the  vine,  the  fig 
tree,  the  olive,  declining  the  offered  honor  of  "waving  to  and  fro  over 
the  trees,"  while  the  bramble  accepts  the  sovereignty,  and  calls  upon 
the  forest  to  come  and  put  its  trust  in  his  shadow. 

When  the  grand  story  of  Elijah  has  gone  on  mounting  through 
successive  stages  of  climax  to  the  highest  climax,  which  brings  the 
greatest  of  the  prophets  to  the  scene  of  the  giving  of  the  Law,  and  the 
thunder  and  lightning  and  earthquake  have  once  again  prepared  us  to 
listen  to  the  voice  of  God,  a  modern  reader  instinctively  looks  for  some 
profound  moral  principle  as  the  utterance  up  to  which  so  much  has  led. 
But  it  is  because  he  has  failed  to  take  his  perspective  from  the  history 
of  Israel,  in  which  the  prophets  are  not  as  yet  spiritual  pastors,  but 
leaders  in  the  world  of  action;  the  divine  command  on  Horeb,  that 
deals  with  the  anointing  of  two  kings,  holds  latent  in  its  clauses  the 
coming  history  of  the  northern  kingdom  to  its  captivity. 

4.   In  these  last  points  I  have  been  considering  the  preparation  of 


30  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

the  story-teller  for  his  task.  When  the  story  has  been  carefully  studied 
and  assimilated,  then  the  freest  play  of  imagination  should  be  used  in  the 
rendering.  Like  the  actor,  the  story-teller  is  a  translator,  with  the  trans- 
lator's double  fidelity — to  his  original  and  to  his  audience.  The  question 
is  not  of  translating  out  of  one  language  into  another,  but  out  of  one  set 
of  mental  habits  belonging  to  ancient  life  into  another  set  of  habits 
characterizing  the  modern  hearers  who  are  to  be  impressed.  Greek 
drama,  with  exquisite  instinct,  realized  this  double  fidelity  in  its  institu- 
tion of  the  chorus.  Theoretically,  a  Greek  chorus  is  a  portion  of  the 
supposed  audience  in  the  theater  transported  into  the  age  and  garb  of 
the  story  dramatized,  which  they  follow  from  point  to  point  with  medita- 
tions calculated  to  voice  similar  meditations  on  the  part  of  those  watch- 
ing the  representation  of  the  drama.  Every  teller  of  a  Bible  story 
must  be  his  own  chorus,  moving  through  the  scenes  of  the  narrative 
with  the  outlook  and  emotions  of  the  men  or  the  children  of  today. 
Some  very  effective  tellers  of  Scripture  stories  fill  in  details  of  modern 
realism  with  slang  up  to  date.  I  have  never  myself  felt  the  necessity 
of  this;  but,  if  a  fault,  it  is  a  fault  in  the  right  direction.  The  exact 
narrative  of  Scripture  must  be  freely  handled ;  we  may  expand  where  the 
original  is  terse,  emphasize  clearly  what  the  original  takes  for  granted, 
alter  altogether  the  proportion  of  parts.  The  condition  is  that  we 
should  first  have  been  minutely  faithful  in  our  study  of  the  story,  omit- 
ting no  hint,  and  wresting  nothing  out  of  proportion.  This  once 
secured,  we  become  free  agents  in  the  translation  of  what  has  been 
learned  into  terms  of  modern  thought. 

5.  One  point  may  be  added:  while  it  is  true  that  the  student  cannot 
bestow  too  much  study  on  his  literary  original,  yet  it  is  obvious  that  the 
results  of  this  study  must  not  appear  on  the  surface  of  his  narrative. 
All  that  may  be  thought  out  or  learned,  as  to  historic  setting,  or  mean- 
ing and  motive,  will  go  to  enrich  the  story-telhng,  but  it  must  be  entirely 
below  the  surface.  My  fifth  note  is  that  the  teller  0}  Bible  stories  must 
have  learned  to  insinuate.  Indirect  suggestion  is  far  more  potent  than 
discussion:  the  narrator  must  be  creative  in  tone  from  first  to  last,  well 
aware  that  a  single  note  of  discussion  or  criticism  may  break  the  spell. 

These  few  notes  on  the  art  of  telling  Bible  stories  will  suggest  to 
any  reader  that  the  most  important  thing  of  all  has  been  omitted. 
Someone  has  said  that,  if  you  really  desire  to  be  a  great  man,  your  first 
duty  is  most  carefully  to  choose  your  grandfather.  So  in  the  art  of 
telling  Bible  stories  the  first  thing  is  by  constitution  and  practice  to  be 
a  story-teller. 


MEMORY  WORK  IN  CHARACTER-FORMING 

WALTER  L.  HERVEY,  Ph.D., 

EXAMINER   BOARD   OF   EDUCATION,   NEW   YORK   CITY 

The  general  theme  of  memory  work  in  character-forming  is  a  very 
broad  one,  since  character-forming  is  the  goal  of  all  education  and 
memory  work  its  universal  condition.  I  shall  be  limited,  therefore,  to 
a  discussion  of,  first,  the  ground  and  value;  secondly,  the  scope  and 
limits;  and,  finally,  the  method  of  learning  by  heart,  in  the  home,  as  a 
means  of  character-forming. 

In  its  main  outHnes  the  psychology  of  the  process  of  character- 
forming  through  memory  work  is  very  simple.  A  man's  character  is 
the  inner  structure  which  determines  his  life.  That  structure  is,  as 
Aristotle  says,  the  product  of  nature,  habit,  and  reason.  That  is  to 
say,  whatever  we  do  at  any  moment  is  an  expression  of  character,  and 
character  is  a  complex  of  native  tendencies  or  instincts,  which  we  may 
call  first  nature ;  of  tendencies  acquired  either  consciously  or  unconscious- 
ly, which  have  become  so  firmly  a  part  of  ourselves  that  we  call  them 
second  nature;  and  of  those  impulses,  ideals,  desires,  aspirations, 
resolves,  which  are  neither  original  in  us  nor  as  yet  fully  built  into  us, 
but  which  influence  action  and  go  to  make  up  character. 

The  essential  points  in  character-building  are,  therefore,  three: 
first,  to  build  upon  the  foundation  laid  in  the  child's  original  nature, 
which,  so  far  from  being  sunk  in  total  depravity,  is  at  the  start  of  life 
equipped  with  every  necessary  element  and  seed  of  goodness,  and  which 
for  perfect  development  requires  only  the  food  and  motion  appropriate 
to  each  advancing  stage  of  growth.  It  is  the  child's  nature  to  demand 
as  his  proper  food  and  motion  something  worth  while  to  learn  by  heart. 
And  if  he  seems  to  take  more  readily  to  "Spotless  Town"  than  to  the 
twenty-third  Psalm,  that  is  not  so  much  proof  of  depravity  in  him  as 
it  is  proof  of  negligence  in  us.  Try  him  at  the  age  when  he  is  eager 
and  impressionable  with  that  which  is  equally  adapted  and  at  the  same 
time  more  worth  while,  and  see  if,  guided,  he  will  not  respond  to  that 
with  his  higher  nature  as  eagerly  as,  unguided,  he  responds  to  the  other 
with  his  lower  nature. 

Secondly,  as  regards  habit,  we  have  the  familiar  maxims:  "Solidify 
into  habits  as  many  useful  reactions  as  possible;"  "Make  the  nervous 
system  friend  instead  of  enemy."  It  is  sufficient  to  say  under  this  head 
that  learning  by  heart  is  nothing  more  than  the  forming  of  a  set  of  habits. 

31 


32  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

Thirdly,  as  regards  reason,  or  character  in  the  making,  we  afl&rm 
that  what  is  presented  as  food — as  character  material — should  be  fully 
assimilated  that  it  may  become  a  permanent  possession  of  the  soul. 
Now,  learning  by  heart  is  one  step,  and  an  indispensable  step,  in  the 
process  of  character-forming  by  assimilation.  The  cumulative  Bacon- 
ian series  is  suggestive:  it  is  well  to  read,  it  is  better  to  mark,  but  to 
learn  puts  one  well  on  the  way  toward  inward  digestion,  whereby  that 
which  is  vitally  taken  into  the  mind  becomes  structurally  built  into  the 
character. 

Adaptation,  assimilation,  habituation — these  words  sum  up  for  us 
the  beginning,  the  middle,  and  the  end  of  character-forming;  and,  as 
we  have  seen,  they  supply  the  general  argument  for  memory  work. 

There  are,  too,  the  special  arguments,  which  we  can  but  touch  on. 
It  is  the  universal  testimony  of  mankind  that  the  word-for-word  memo- 
rizing of  classic  and  beautiful  forms  of  words  enriches  the  speech, 
forms  the  taste,  feeds  the  mind,  fortifies  the  soul.  The  Psalmist  beauti- 
fully puts  his  argument  for  learning  by  heart  when  he  says:  "Thy  word 
have  I  hid  in  my  heart  that  I  might  not  sin  against  Thee."  It  is  the 
experience  of  multitudes  of  those  who  have  been  brought  up  to  love 
often  repeated  forms  of  devotion  that  by  their  very  familiarity  and  use 
these  forms  gain  inexpressibly  in  their  power  to  help  us — "in  all  time 
of  our  tribulation;  in  all  time  of  our  prosperity;  in  the  hour  of  death, 
and  in  the  day  of  judgment." 

Of  all  those  who  have  borne  testimony  on  this  matter  I  shall  cite 
but  one,  as  being  clearly  unbiased  and  as  combining  the  most  pro- 
nounced disadvantages  with  the  most  striking  and  unqualifiedly  favor- 
able results — the  case  of  John  Ruskin.  After  speaking,  in  "Praeterita," 
of  the  salutary  pleasures  of  his  home,  he  says:  "I  have  next  with  deeper 
gratitude  to  chronicle  what  I  owed  to  my  mother  for  the  resolutely  con- 
sistent lessons  which  so  exercised  me  in  the  Scriptures  as  to  make  every 
word  of  them  familiar  to  my  ear  in  habitual  music — yet  in  that  familiarity 
reverenced,  as  transcending  all  thought,  and  ordaining  all  conduct." 
In  these  lessons,  which  began  as  soon  as  he  was  able  to  read  with  fluency, 
and  never  ceased  till  he  went  to  Oxford,  he  says:  "My  mother  forced  me 
by  steady  daily  toil  to  learn  long  chapters  of  the  Bible  by  heart;  as  well 
as  to  read  it  every  syllable  through,  aloud,  hard  names  and  all,  from 
Genesis  to  the  Apocalypse  about  once  a  year."  After  the  reading, 
"  I  had  to  learn  a  few  verses  by  heart,  or  repeat,  to  make  sure  I  had  not 
lost,  something  of  what  was  already  known;  and  with  the  chapters  thus 
gradually  possessed  from  the  first  word  to  the  last,  I  had  to  learn  the 
whole  body  of  the  fine  old  Scottish  paraphrases."     Then  follows  the 


MEMORY  WORK  IN  CHARACTER-FORMING  S3 

vivid  picture  of  the  long  morning  hours  of  toil — "toil  on  both  sides 
equal;"  the  struggle  for  accuracy  to  the  least  accent,  and  for  under- 
standing if  that  vi^as  within  reach;  the  list  of  chapters  learned  by  heart 
with  which  (he  says  of  his  mother)  "she  established  my  soul  in  life;" 
and  finally  the  summary  of  results  in  these  remarkable  and  significant 
words:  "And  truly,  though  I  have  picked  up  the  elements  of  a  little 
further  knowledge — in  mathematics,  meteorology,  and  the  like,  in 
after-life,  and  owe  not  a  little  to  the  teaching  of  many  people,  this 
maternal  installation  of  my  mind  in  that  property  of  chapters  I  count 
very  confidently  the  most  precious,  and,  on  the  whole,  the  one  essential 
part  of  all  my  education." 

So  much,  then,  for  the  argument  for  memory  work.  It  is  time  now 
to  make  a  distinction. 

Not  all  learning  can  or  should  be  memoriter  learning.  The  line 
is  very  sharply  drawn.  Where  the  exact  language  is  immaterial  it  is 
an  abuse  to  require  it.  In  such  cases  it  is  no  less  important  to  neglect 
and  to  forget  at  the  right  place,  than  it  is  to  attend  and  to  remember. 
But  where  the  exact  language,  by  reason  of  intrinsic  worth,  is  an  inher- 
ent element  in  the  truth  to  be  conveyed,  the  case  is  different.  Here 
form  and  substance  are  so  vitally  interwoven  that  the  form  cannot  be 
changed  without  essential  loss  to  the  substance. 

In  former  days  there  was  excess  of  memorizing  and  deficiency  of  judg- 
ment. There  are  those  here  present  who  as  children  were  required  to 
learn  memoriter  page  after  page  of  their  history  books.  I  myself  learned 
a  catechism  of  history  contained  in  the  cacophonous  Monteith's  Youth'' s 
History  of  the  United  States.  In  these  days  the  wise  teacher  places  a 
premium  on  the  pupil's  getting  the  gist  of  the  lesson  and  saying  it  in 
his  own  words.  But  the  danger  now  is  that  there  will  be  excess  of 
judgment  and  deficiency  of  word-for-word  memorizing,  and  that  the  prac- 
tice of  learning  word  for  word  that  which  should  be  so  learned  will  fall 
into  disuse. 

Let  us  now  seek  a  criterion:  What  should  be  so  learned?  The 
question  embarrasses,  not  because  there  is  so  Httle,  but  so  much.  There 
is  nothing  named  in  Ruskin's  long  Hst  which  it  would  not  be  good  to 
memorize;  but  we  are  forced  by  every  difference  between  his  time  and 
our  own,  and  particularly  by  the  difference  between  him  and  our  chil- 
dren, and  between  their  parents  and  his  mother,  to  ask,  not  what  were 
good,  but  what  is  best.  It  seems  to  me  self-evident  that  that  material 
which  is  best  for  memory  work  is  that  which,  by  its  truth,  its  beauty, 
and  its  living  power  most  universally  and  permanently  satisfies  the 
soul.    For  if  it  be  true,  it  will  satisfy  the  intellect;  if  beautiful,  the  feel- 


34  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

ings;  if  vital,  the  will.  To  be  true  it  must  apply  to  all  mankind,  at 
every  epoch  of  development  and  in  every  age.  To  be  beautiful  it  must 
be  clothed  in  language  that  perfectly  expresses  the  truth  and  perma- 
nently satisfies  the  heart.  To  be  vital  it  must  touch  the  life — giving 
form  and  spirit  to  prayer  and  praise,  giving  wings  to  aspiration,  giving 
impulse  to  action. 

That  which  is  fittest  to  learn  by  heart  will  therefore  be  found,  not  so 
much  in  the  form  of  rules,  or  definitions,  or  dogmas,  or  "stiff  and  stark 
external  commands" — for  "whether  there  be  knowledge,  it  shall  be 
done  away."  That  which  is  fittest  to  learn  by  heart  we  shall  find  rather 
in  "the  breath  and  finer  spirit  of  all  knowledge" — in  poetry  and  in 
poetic  prose.  Matthew  Arnold  was  very  nearly  right  in  saying  that 
"in  poetry  our  race,  as  time  goes  on,  will  find  an  ever  surer  and  surer 
stay,"  and  that  "the  strongest  part  of  our  religion  today  is  its  uncon- 
scious poetry."  Judged  by  this  criterion,  the  list  of  that  which  is  of 
most  worth  for  purposes  of  memory  work  will  include : 

1.  Those  sweet  and  majestic  words  of  Jesus  of  which  he  Himself 
said:  "The  words  that  I  speak  unto  you,  they  are  spirit  and  they  are 
life ; "  words  which  are  the  more  permanent  as  they  do  not  take  the  form 
of  "stiff  and  stark  external  commands." 

2.  Those  Psalms  that  are  unequaled  in  beauty  of  language  and  in 
power  to  satisfy  the  spirit  of  man  in  its  loftiest  and  its  deepest  moods. 

3.  The  subHme  and  often  mystical  poetry  found  in  Deuteronomy, 
Isaiahj  and  Revelation. 

4.  Ancient  and  beautiful  forms  of  prayer,  such  as  may  be  found  in 
the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  and  which,  when  found,  are  eagerly  recog- 
nized by  the  children  as  being  suitable  to  their  tastes  and  needs. 

5.  Classic  forms  of  sound  words  embodying  edifying  doctrine,  such 
as  are  wont  to  be  sought  chiefly  in  catechisms,  but  which  can  be  found 
elsewhere  as  well.  But  it  should  be  remembered  that  there  are  cate- 
chisms and  catechisms,  and  it  must  certainly  be  agreed  that,  for 
purposes  of  memorizing,  not  much  of  some  catechisms,  and  not  all  of 
any  catechism,  is  worthy  to  be  compared,  for  utiHty  or  for  intrinsic 
worth,  with  portions  of  Scripture  without  number  which  remain  un- 
learned. Indiscriminate  catechism-committing  is,  happily,  going  out  of 
vogue.  Even  in  the  Episcopal  church,  where  the  rubric  prescribes  a 
catechism  as  an  "instruction  to  be  learned  by  every  person  before  he 
be  brought  to  be  confirmed  by  the  bishop,"  a  distinction  is  made  between 
saying  "the  Creed,  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  the  Ten  Commandments," 
and  answering  to  the  other  questions.  This  language — since  "learn- 
ing" does  not  necessarily  mean  rote-learning,  and  "answering  to  ques- 


MEMORY  WORK  IN  CHARACTER-FORMING  35 

tians"  does  not  necessarily  involve  the  use  of  uniform  and  prescribed 
phrases — certainly  leaves  a  convenient  latitude  to  those  who  believe 
that  in  general  the  language  of  doctrine  does  not  deserve  the  same 
sacred  handling  as  the  words  of  Jesus  or  the  language  of  inspired  poetry. 
I  need  not  add  that  I  speak  neither  by  permission  nor  by  command- 
ment, but  simply  express,  as  I  feel  bound  to  do,  the  views  of  a  plain 
pedagogue  upon  a  question  which  is,  in  one  of  its  aspects,  a  question  of 
pedagogy. 

We  are  ready  to  consider,  in  conclusion,  some  constructive  sugges- 
tions regarding  the  conduct  of  memory  work  at  home. 

1 .  Memory  work  at  home  should  be  co-operative,  yet  independent. 
Children  are  being  taught  some  memoriter  work  at  day  school  and  at 
Sunday  school:  they  ask  their  parents  to  ''hear"  them,  and  the  hearing 
of  such  lessons  is  one  thing  at  least  which  parents  can  do  without  the 
odium  scholasticum  which  attaches  to  parental  help  in  an  arithmetic 
lesson.  So  much  is  due  the  school.  But  there  is  something  also  which 
the  home  owes  itself — to  have  its  own  line  of  work  and  to  hold  thereto, 
whether  school  keeps  or  not.  Moreover,  the  Sunday  school  can  never, 
in  my  judgment,  do  much  memoriter  work  without  neglect  of  its  proper 
duty  of  instruction.  It  can  prepare  the  way  for  home  work  by  develop- 
ing a  rich  and  real  liturgical  service. 

2.  The  times  for  memory  work  at  home  should  be  sacredly  regular, 
yet  not  impossibly  frequent.  They  can  be  made  coincident  with  the 
inevitable  bedtime  (for  pleasurable  but  not  studious  repetition)  and, 
shall  we  say,  with  the  equally  inevitable  leisure  hour  each  week  sacredly 
set  apart  for  family  worship  and  religious  instruction. 

3.  At  these  times  the  exercises  should  be  regarded  as  a  duty,  yet 
made,  as  they  can  be  made,  a  privilege  and  a  pleasure.  It  is  a  grievous 
error  to  speak  and  act  as  if  interest  and  effort  were  incompatible,  and 
duty  necessarily  distasteful.  To  endure  hardness  as  a  good  soldier 
is  not  to  be  confounded  with  enduring  hardness  as  a  bad  galley  slave. 
I  had  rather,  I  suppose,  punish  the  Beatitudes  into  a  boy  than  have 
him  go  through  life  ignorant  of  the  truth  that  "Blessed  are  they  that 
have  been  persecuted  for  righteousness'  sake."  But  in  a  well-ordered 
home  such  a  course  is  in  general  both  unnecessary  and  self-defeating. 
All  depends  on  how  wisely  the  play  of  motive  is  directed — how  skilfully 
the  proper  impulses  are  set  to  work.  Wisely  motived,  the  child  will 
come  to  you,  saying,  "Find  me  something  I  can  learn  by  heart,"  "Teach 
me  a  prayer;"  and  a  boy  of  eleven,  set  to  learn  the  part  of  Brutus,  will 
learn  the  speeches  of  Mark  Antony  to  boot.  Social  co-operation,  imita- 
tion,   consciousness   of   growing   power,    ambition,    pride,    emulation, 


36  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

praise  and  blame,  reward  and  punishment — there  is  no  motive  known  to 
human  nature  which  may  not  be  harnessed  up  and  made  to  draw  this 
load. 

4.  But  motive  without  method  is  as  steam  without  engine.  There- 
fore, and  finally,  the  method  used  should  reinforce  repetition  with 
thinking,  feeling,  and  willing.  To  memorize  by  mere  mechanical  mull- 
ing is  a  deadly  grind.  Repetition  should  be  made  with  the  spirit  and 
the  understanding  as  well  as  with  voluntary  attention.  It  would,  indeed, 
be  futile  to  demand  that  every  passage  to  be  memorized  be  first  fully 
understood ;  but  to  undertake  to  learn  what  is  not  in  some  degree  grasped 
by  the  heart  and  the  head  is  from  every  view-point  unwise.  There 
should  be  a  living  relation  established  between  the  child  and  that  which 
he  is  to  learn.  Sometimes  this  relation  is  best  established  by  letting  the 
child  become  very  familiar  with  that  which  he  is  to  learn,  before  he  sets 
himself  finally  to  commit  it  to  memory.  I  have  found  that  if  a  psalm 
is  to  be  memorized,  a  good  way  to  begin  is  to  make  it,  at  home  or  at 
school,  a  part  of  a  regular  liturgy,  thus  reading  it  many  times  with 
attention  and  with  spirit ;  perhaps  also,  at  the  proper  time,  with  explana- 
tion and  informal  analysis.  The  same  applies  to  prayers  and  hymns, 
which  should  be  often  prayed  and  sung  before  being  of  set  purpose 
memorized.  This  process  of  creating  familiarity  and  warmth  may  be 
compared  to  the  first  stage  in  the  developing  of  a  photographic  film — 
one  by  one  the  features  "come  out,"  until  the  film  is  ready  for  fixing. 
The  figure  may  halt  a  trifle,  yet  in  both  processes  there  are  obvious 
disadvantages  in  trying  to  fix  before  the  features  have  come  out,  and 
still  more  so  if  the  fixing  begins  before  the  plate  has  been  fully  exposed. 
The  great  law  of  method,  here  as  everywhere  else,  is:  Let  spirit  vitalize 
form. 

A  final  word  as  to  the  proper  part  of  the  home  in  this  work.  I 
venture  to  say  that  in  such  work  as  this  lies  one  of  the  home's  peculiar 
functions.  To  guide  and  inspire  the  children  in  memory  work  is  some- 
thing the  home  can  do  better  than  can  any  other  agency,  and  better 
perhaps  than  it  can  do  many  other  things.  The  home  deals  with  individ- 
uals; it  has  them  regularly,  steadily,  every  day,  seven  days  in  the  week. 
The  time  is  indeed  short,  but  this  defect  in  quantity  is  made  up  by  the 
unique  element  of  quality:  the  time  which  the  children  naturally  devote 
to  their  parents,  and  when  they  claim  their  parents  for  themselves,  is 
the  sweetest,  most  impressionable  of  all  the  times  of  day.  I  mean 
bedtime  and  prayertime.  Then  the  interests  and  distractions  of  the 
active  day  fade.  Then  the  child  turns  with  intense  eagerness,  all  the 
greater  for  this  absence  and  absorption  in  school  and  at  play,  to  his 


MEMORY  WORK  IN  CHARACTER-FORMING  37 

mother — and  to  his  father,  if  his  father  be  parent  and  not  merely  pro- 
genitor— for  companionship,  for  confidences,  for  story-teUing,  for 
reading  of  Uterature,  and  for  worship.  And  it  is  reasonable  to  hold 
that,  in  the  pressure  of  the  week's  engagements,  which  bears  not  less 
heavily,  nowadays,  upon  the  children  than  upon  the  adults  of  the  house- 
hold, there  can  be  one  other  stated  time  for  worship  and  for  instruction — 
the  quiet  hour  on  Sunday.  May  I  not,  then,  seriously  and  earnestly 
propose — and  to  clear  myself  of  cant  I  may  confess  that  I  am  trying  to 
bolster  up  my  own  resolution  by  this  public  announcement  of  personal 
intention — that  we  as  parents  sacredly  devote  some  stated  time  to  guid- 
ing, helping,  and  inspiring  our  children  at  home  to  learn  by  heart 
precious  portions  of  Scripture  and  such  like  language,  in  the  belief  that 
thereby,  in  a  unique  and  indispensable  way,  we  shall  be  filling  their 
minds,  forming  their  characters,  feeding  their  souls,  and  giving  them 
as  it  were  in  fee  simple,  the  very  essence  of  a  priceless  heritage. 


LITERATURE  AS  A  MEANS  OF  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  IN 

THE  HOME 

PROFESSOR  CALEB  T.  WINCHESTER,  L.H.D., 

WESLEYAN   UNIVERSITY,   MIDDLETOWN,   CONNECTICUT 

I  do  not  understand  that  in  the  discussion  of  this  topic  I  am  to  con- 
fine the  term  "hterature"  to  what  is  called  religious  literature,  to  writ- 
ings of  a  distinctly  ethical  or  didactic  character;  I  am  rather  to  consider 
the  religious  value  of  Hterature  in  the  broad  and  usual  sense  of  the 
term,  of  secular  literature,  and  especially  of  what  we  call  polite  litera- 
ture or  belles-lettres,  all  the  literature  which  does  not  aim  primarily  at 
imparting  information — poetry,  fiction,  the  essay. 

My  discussion  therefore  will  naturally  embrace  two  questions:  (i) 
what  is  the  value  of  such  literature  as  a  means  of  religious  culture  ?  (2) 
what  is  the  special  fitness  of  the  home  as  a  place  for  such  culture  ? 

In  order  to  decide  the  value  of  literature  as  a  means  of  religious 
culture  we  may  well  ask :  What  is  literature  ?  I  do  not  propose  to  enter 
upon  any  extended  academic  discussion  of  the  question;  I  shall  borrow 
a  definition  which  I  think  will  serve  our  purpose  very  well.  Mr.  Ruskin 
— who  said  more  true  things  than  anyone  else  about  the  relation  of  all  the 
arts  to  religion  and  morals — defines  poetry  somewhere  as  "the  presenta- 
tion by  the  imagination  of  noble  grounds  for  noble  emotions."  Now, 
I  think  that  is  really  a  definition,  not  of  poetry  merely,  but  of  all  pure 
literature.  It  covers  not  only  poetry,  but  drama,  and  fiction,  and 
oratory,  and  much  criticism,  and  history  so  far  as  history  has  literary 
value.  I  will  not  stop  to  discuss  the  statement,  but  I  think  you  will 
find  on  reflection  that  a  book  has  distinctly  literary  quality  only  in  so 
far  as  it  appeals  to  some  of  our  emotions,  and  that,  as  a  rule,  this  appeal 
must  be  made  through  the  imagination. 

Perhaps  you  may  object,  however,  that  by  adopting  this  definition 
I  am  importing  into  literature  a  moral  element  not  essential  to  it.  Does 
all  literature  present  noble  grounds  for  noble  emotions  ?  Are  there 
no  great  had  books  ?  Well,  I  am  not  saying  that  there  should  be  no 
discrimination  in  our  reading  for  religious  culture;  but  I  will  say  that 
I  do  not  think  Mr.  Ruskin's  definition  far  wrong.  For  the  great  bad 
books  are  very  few.  The  moral  sense  of  mankind  is  always  prominent 
in  its  literary  judgments,  and  the  really  bad  seldom  turn  out  to  be 
immortal.     The  deep  and  universal  emotions  out  of  which  literature  is 

38 


LITERATURE  AND  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  39 

made  are  moral  and  healthy.  Men  do  not  mistake  their  moral  quality. 
A  great  book  may  sometimes  be  sadly  in  error  intellectually,  may  present 
irrational  views  of  life  or  society;  but  a  great  book  is  seldom  wrong 
morally.  A  poet,  for  example,  may  adopt  some  mistaken,  unpractical 
theory,  and  pouring  into  it  his  own  impassioned  feeling  make  a  genuinely 
great  poem;  but  the  feeling  must  be  noble  and  inspiring.  Shelley's 
"Prometheus  Unbound,"  for  example,  is  the  bright  vision  of  a  thorough- 
ly impossible  social  ideal;  but  the  ardor  of  unselfish  hope  and  faith  that 
thrills  in  its  music  makes  it  one  of  the  world's  great  Orphic  songs. 

On  the  other  hand,  morbid  feeling,  ill-regulated  passion,  are  always 
signs  of  weakness  or  enervation;  books  that  have  such  motives  often 
have  a  vogue,  but  seldom  a  lasting  fame.  They  belong  to  the  litera- 
ture of  decadence;  you  can  seldom  keep  a  book  of  that  sort  sweet 
through  the  centuries.  And  even  when  an  author  is  not  deserving 
of  high  praise  morally,  it  will  usually  be  found  that  the  parts  of  his  work 
which  give  it  hold  upon  humanity  are  the  sound  and  true  parts.  Byron, 
for  an  example,  is  largely  an  unhealthy  writer;  but  those  passages  of 
B}Ton  which  the  world  knows  by  heart — the  solemn  record  of  the 
transitoriness  of  human  greatness,  the  ennobling  grandeur  of  God's 
hill  and  God's  ocean — these  are  true,  and  it  is  by  virtue  of  these  that 
B)Ton  lives.  I  think,  then,  we  may  accept  Ruskin's  definition  as  sub- 
stantially correct,  that  literature  is  the  presentation  by  the  imagina- 
tion of  noble  grounds  for  noble  emotions. 

And  now,  what  is  religious  culture,  at  what  does  it  aim  ?  Is  it  not 
primarily  a  culture  of  the  emotions,  in  reverent  obedience  to  the  law  of 
God,  and  to  the  end  of  practice  in  righteousness?  Religious  culture 
surely  implies  that  all  our  emotions  should  be  healthy,  harmoniously 
developed,  steady — not  fitful  as  the  religious  emotions  are  likely  to  be 
— sensitive  and  strong,  yet  well  contained,  temperate,  and  rightly  in 
touch  with  the  facts  of  life.  I  know  we  sometimes  hear  religious  teach- 
ing which  seems  to  imply  that  the  first  duty  of  man  with  reference  to 
his  emotions  and  passions  is  to  repress  them;  that  restraint  of  the  active 
forces  of  our  nature  is  the  highest  Christian  attainment.  There  is  a 
conception  of  the  Christian  life  that  is  based  on  this  idea — the  ascetic 
or  monastic  conception.  But  it  is  all  wrong;  and  the  history  of  monas- 
ticism  in  every  age  will  show  us  what  perversion  and  narrowing  of  human 
nature  it  leads  to. 

Nor  is  it  Christ's  conception  of  righteous  living.  If  I  were  to  select 
the  one  saying  of  the  Master  that  seems  to  me  more  significant  and 
precious  than  any  other,  I  should  take  the  promise:  "I  am  come  that 
they  might  have  Ufe,  and  that  they  might  have  it  more  abundantly." 


4o  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

The  true  ideal  of  the  Christian  Ufe  is  the  broadest  and  fullest  ideal,  for 
God  has  not  made  the  mistake  of  giving  us  powers  and  passions  for 
nothing,  nor  has  he  given  us  powers  and  passions  merely  to  test  our  ability 
to  keep  them  under.  Christ's  words  I  take  to  mean  literally  just  what 
they  say,  though  their  meaning  be  too  divinely  broad  for  our  full 
comprehension — that  we  might  have  lije,  the  fullest  development  of  all 
the  living,  immortal  part  of  man.  "Trust  in  the  Lord,"  says  the 
Psalmist,  "and  He  shall  give  thee  the  desires  of  thy  heart,"  not  deny 
them  nor  dry  them  up.  It  is  true  there  is  a  rank  and  gradation  in  our 
emotions;  there  are  higher  and  lower  objects  of  desire.  But  we  shall 
never  secure  due  subordination  of  our  emotions  and  passions  merely  by 
trying  to  crush  down  the  lower  ones,  but  rather  by  trying  to  rouse  the 
higher  ones.  True  spiritual  culture  is  a  process  of  education,  not  of 
mere  reform;  it  seeks  to  excite,  not  merely  to  subdue. 

And  now  this  healthy  cultivation  of  the  emotions  proceeds  by  the  aid 
of  the  imagination  always.  We  speak  of  the  imagination  sometimes 
as  if  it  pertained  merely  to  the  aesthetic  part  of  our  nature,  having  little 
to  do  with  the  moral  part ;  it  is  a  thing  that  belongs  to  poets  and  dreamers, 
we  say,  but  in  this  busy  world  a  practical  man  has  little  use  for  the 
imagination.  Well,  there  is  where  the  practical  man  makes  a  great 
mistake;  for  the  imagination  holds  the  key  to  our  feelings.  It  is  the 
ofi&ce  of  the  imagination  to  incorporate  truth  in  circumstance.  Abstract 
truth  and  abstract  verities,  however  sublime,  never  move  us  much.  We 
nod  assent  to  them  and  go  on  as  before.  A  whole  creed  full  of  truths 
and  a  whole  catalogue  of  virtues  cannot  turn  us  aside  a  single  step  from 
the  primrose  path  to  the  eternal  bonfire.  But  when  the  truth  is  clothed 
in  image  and  personality,  it  gets  hold  upon  our  emotions  and  issues  in 
conduct.  Then,  too,  it  is  only  by  the  imagination  that  we  can  go  out  of 
ourselves,  and  judge  others  charitably  or  even  justly;  more  than  all, 
it  is  only  by  the  imagination  that  we  can  see  ourselves  as  others  see  us. 
The  only  reason  why  many  a  man  is  so  hard  and  dry  and  unsympathetic, 
such  an  unlovely  Christian,  is  simply  because  he  has  no  imagination, 
or  has  not  used  what  little  he  may  have. 

Now,  if  literature  be  what  we  have  defined  it,  must  it  not  obviously 
be  one  of  the  best  means  for  this  healthy  cultivation  of  imagination  and 
emotion  ?  That  is  its  very  function.  To  read  a  great  book  is  not 
merely  to  cultivate  the  taste,  to  gratify  the  sense  of  form  and  speech; 
it  is  to  hold  communion  with  a  soul  that  has  been  stirred  by  some  of 
the  capital  emotions  of  humanity;  to  put  ourselves  for  a  little  in  his 
place;  to  share  his  deeper  feelings,  his  larger  vision.  By  thus  giving  us  a 
picture  of  human  life,  in  all  its  phases,  warm,  breathing,  real,  literature 


LITERATURE  AND  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  41 

quickens  our  perceptions,  enlarges  our  sympathies,  actually  widens  our 
experience. 

Nor  let  it  be  said  that  this  is  of  little  distinctively  religious  value. 
The  fact  is  rather  that  a  new  and  helpful  realization  of  human  life  in 
any  or  all  its  phases  is  always  to  the  genuinely  religious  man  a  means 
of  religious  culture.  It  stimulates  in  such  a  man  those  emotions  of 
sympathy,  or  admiration,  or  love,  or  reverence;  or,  on  the  other  hand, 
of  pity,  or  indignation,  or  moral  aversion,  which  every  man  should  wish 
to  keep  sensitive  and  strong.  Human  life  is  full  of  evil,  of  sorrow,  and 
of  sin ;  yet  no  thoughtful  man  will  wish  to  turn  away  from  it  nor  regard 
it  with  indifference.  He  rather  asks  what  it  all  means,  what  must  be 
his  own  attitude  or  duty  toward  it.  The  most  inspiring  of  modern 
poets  makes  one  of  his  characters  say: 

This  world's  no  blot  for  us,  nor  blank; 

It  means  intensely,  and  it  means  good; 

To  find  its  meaning  is  my  meat  and  drink. 

For  genuine  religious  life  is  not  cultivated  by  ignorance  or  isolation; 
but  rather  by  knowledge,  and  the  constant  exercise  of  moral  judgment 
in  action  and  reflection. 

Nay,  even  the  purely  aesthetic  emotions  to  which  literature  makes 
appeal  are  not  without  their  value  in  reHgious  culture.  "How  near  to 
good  is  what  is  fair,"  says  a  wise  old  Enghsh  poet;  and  more  than  that 
is  true.  Whatsoever  is  beautiful  does  suggest  to  us  some  sort  of  good- 
ness— kind  temper,  pure  thought,  gentle  disposition.  Beauty  is,  so  to 
speak,  the  outward  face  of  love.  Our  very  language  shows  that  we  think 
so — we  call  a  beautiful  thing  as  well  as  a  beautiful  deed  "lovely." 
Deep  in  the  roots  of  language  is  the  conviction  imbedded.  Did  you 
ever  think  that  the  same  word  expresses  at  once  the  most  sacred  of 
rehgious  gifts  as  the  finest  outward  charm  of  beauty  ?  That  word,  both 
in  its  older  Greek  form  charis  and  in  our  English  form  "grace,"  has 
that  double  meaning — a  wonderful  breadth  of  meaning  in  that  word, 
most  significant;  and  I  think  we  ought  never  to  use  or  to  hear  those 
blessed  words,  "The  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,"  without  some 
thought  of  how  that  grace  in  all  its  meaning  was  shown  by  Him  who 
loved  the. sublimity  of  the  lonely  heaven,  and  who  said  with  a  gush  of 
quick  emotion  as  He  plucked  the  wayside  lily:  "Solomon  in  all  his 
glory  was  not  arrayed  like  one  of  these."  The  more  we  think  of  it, 
the  more  clearly  shall  we  see  that  the  highest  goodness  does  issue  in 
beauty — of  thought,  temper,  even  of  form.  Do  you  remember  the 
remarkable  prayer  that  closes  what  is  possibly  the  oldest  of  recorded 
poems,  the  ninetieth  Psalm,   in  which  the  singer,  smitten  with  the 


42  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

transiency  of  all  earthly  beauty  that  typifies  our  human  life — the  stream 
that  lapseth,  the  dew  that  drieth,  the  flower  that  fadeth — cries  out  as 
the  sum  of  all  longing  and  aspiration:  "The  beauty  of  the  Lord  our  God 
be  upon  us!" 

I  plead  for  the  influence  of  Hterature,  then,  to  broaden,  sweeten, 
and  humanize  our  life.  For  I  think  our  conception  of  a  rehgious  life 
is  often  too  narrow.  Indeed,  I  do  not  much  hke  those  phrases  "religious 
life,"  "religious  experience,"  "religious  duty."  People  talk  as  if  they 
had  two  sorts  of  experience,  religious  and  some  other;  as  if  God  enjoined 
us  to  do  some  things  for  Him,  and  allowed  us  to  do  a  good  many  more  for 
ourselves.  Can  you  think  of  Jesus  Christ  talking  of  His  religious  expe- 
rience, His  religious  duties?  Or  even  Paul?  Our  whole  distinction 
between  secular  and  religious  things  is  largely  factitious  and  misleading 
— injurious  to  our  life  on  the  religious  and  on  the  secular  side  of  the 
line  we  try  to  draw.  Our  religion,  if  we  have  any  worth  having,  includes 
the  whole  sphere  of  human  interests — our  duties,  our  pleasures,  our 
intellect,  affection,  emotions.  And  a  genuinely  Christian  culture 
includes  them  all.  It  is  not  merely  a  privilege,  it  is  a  duty,  to  develop 
all  the  gifts  and  possibilities  of  our  nature:  to  give  to  our  religion  a 
broadly  human  character,  to  enforce  its  demands  and  recognize  its 
sway  about  the  whole  circle  of  our  being.  Be  sure  we  cannot  narrow 
our  ideals  of  religious  culture  without  making  our  character  arid  and 
unlovely,  and  decreasing  greatly  thereby  our  influence  for  good.  There 
is  a  widespread  belief,  not  often  exphcitly  avowed,  perhaps  hardly 
recognized  by  those  who  entertain  it,  but  none  the  less  real,  that  an 
earnest  religious  life  is  a  mark  of  deficient  vitality;  that  religion  is  a 
thing  especially  becoming  in  women,  or  old  people,  or  sick  people — 
the  people  in  whom  the  currents  of  life  do  not  run  with  full  strength, 
who  do  not  feel  the  warmth  and  intensity  of  human  interests.  And  it  is 
to  be  feared  that  in  the  expression  of  Christian  ideals  and  experience 
in  some  of  our  hymns — as  in  that  unwholesome  hymn  of  good  John 
Newton,  "Let  worldly  minds  the  world  pursue" — there  is  something  to 
countenance  such  a  beHef.  But  we  cannot  afford  to  do  that.  The 
man  that  does  it,  the  church  that  does  it,  gives  up  influence  and  loses 
power  to  win  the  world  to  the  faith. 

If  then  literature  be,  as  it  is,  the  picture  and  the  interpretation  of 
human  life  in  all  its  breadth,  why  then  surely  the  loving  study  of  Htera- 
ture must  be  one  of  the  best  ways  to  broaden  our  knowledge  of  life, 
to  deepen  our  sense  of  its  significance,  to  show  us  more  clearly  how 
through  all  the  goodly  frame  of  outward  things  beauty  and  charm  are 
but  the  expression  of  God's  great  thought,  how  through  all  the  tangled 
web  of  human  action  run  His  divine  laws. 


LITERATURE  AND  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  43 

I  have  left  myself  but  little  time  in  which  to  speak  of  the  latter  half 
of  my  theme — the  special  fitness  of  the  home  as  a  place  for  the  influence 
of  literature.  I  must  content  myself  with  one  or  two  obvious  sugges- 
tions. 

In  the  first  place,  good  books  afJord  an  excellent  subject  of  interest 
common  to  old  and  young,  to  parents  and  children ;  and  so  tend  to  enlarge 
and  to  strengthen  the  sympathies  of  home.  For  books  do  much  to 
equalize  all  ages:  they  give  to  youth  something  of  the  wisdom  of  years 
and  experience,  and  they  keep  alive  in  the  heart  of  age  something  of  the 
fixe  and  dew  of  youth.  Many  a  man  knows  that  to  read  again — it  may 
be  for  the  hundredth  time — some  true  word  of  poet  that  stirred  his  soul 
long  years  ago  is  to  feel  again  the  still  unslacked  pulse  of  youth,  to  share 
again,  it  may  be  now  with  his  children,  the  hopes  and  aspirations  of 
Hfe's  morning.  And,  on  the  other  hand,  most  of  the  best  literature  of 
the  world  is  not  beyond  the  apprehension  of  a  healthy  boy  in  his  "teens." 
He  may  not  fully  comprehend  it ;  but  the  very  effort  to  do  so  will  expand 
his  mind,  dilate  his  imagination,  and  rouse  his  ambition.  The  great  book 
draws  the  boy's  hopes  and  purposes  on  toward  life  in  healthful,  wise 
ways.  Of  course,  not  all  books  are  equally  adapted  to  all  ages;  yet 
much  of  the  professed  juvenile  literature  is  very  worthless  stuff,  while 
most  of  that  literature  which  is  excused  as  unsuited  to  young  people 
is  equally  unfit  for  old  people.  If  all  the  mass  of  fiction  and  poetry 
that  a  certain  class  of  critics  and  apologists  tell  us  was  not  intended 
for  boys  and  girls  could  be  swept  out  of  existence,  the  literature  of 
the  world  would  not  be  much  the  poorer.  The  English-speaking  people 
may  be  thankful  that  our  literature  would  lose  but  very  little.  Indeed, 
I  have  sometimes  thought  that  a  "  classic  "  might  be  not  very  inaccurately 
defined  as  a  book  that  a  boy  reads  with  interest  between  the  ages  of 
twelve  and  twenty-one,  and  never  after  forgets.  As  a  rule,  all  the  great 
epic  writing,  the  literature  of  great  action,  based  on  broad  and  obvious 
motive,  appeals  to  sympathies  that  are  strong  at  an  early  age.  The 
boy  who  is  old  enough  to  skate  is  old  enough  to  read  Homer  or  Walter 
Scott.  The  poetry  of  sentiment  and  reflection  may  well  come  a  little 
later,  and  the  literature  of  subHme  thought  and  more  complex  passion — 
like  most  of  Shakespeare — a  little  later  still;  yet  substantially  all  the 
world's  great  writing  in  literature  is  intelHgible  to  those  years  when 
the  emotions  and  the  duties  of  life  are  gradually  unfolding  before  the 
vision  of  youth. 

No  reading  a  man  ever  does,  I  think,  tells  quite  so  much  upon  his 
character  as  what  he  does  thus  in  his  boyhood,  in  the  companionship  and 
sympathies  of  home.    It  is  not  merely  that  the  impressions  of  those  years 


44  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

are  the  deepest  and  most  tenaciously  preserved  in  memory:  in  such  an 
atmosphere  the  boy's  mind  is  thrown  open  to  the  best  influence  of  letters; 
what  he  reads  is  interpreted  by  his  best  ideals,  and  all  his  life  after 
will  be  associated  with  his  purest  thoughts.  You  all  remember  how 
very  large  a  part  of  Ruskin's  real  education  consisted  in  those  readings 
at  home  before  he  was  fifteen;  but  who  does  not  see  that  the  Scott  and 
the  Homer  and  even  the  Bible  would  never  have  had  such  an  influence 
upon  all  his  later  life  if  they  had  not  been  illumined  for  him  by  his 
mother's  sympathy  and  linked  in  his  memory  with  her  wise  teaching 
and  solicitous  affection  ?  Nay,  how  many  of  us  know  for  ourselves 
that  the  words  of  poet  or  story-teller  we  learned  when  life  was  new, 
perhaps  as  I  remember  learning  Goldsmith's  lines  of  the  "Deserted 
Village"  at  my  mother's  knee,  will  sound  gently  on  in  the  memory 
forever,  with  a  music  not  all  their  own  ? 

For,  after  all,  the  greatest  advantage  of  the  home  as  a  place  for 
literary  culture  is  found  in  the  fact  that  whatever  reading  is  done  there 
is  done  spontaneously,  to  gratify  a  healthy  curiosity  which  may  be 
wisely  directed,  but  should  never  be  checked  or  thwarted.  Charles 
Lamb  used  to  say,  you  remember,  that  his  sister  Mary  had  enjoyed  the 
best  possible  education — she  had  early  been  turned  loose  in  a  library  of 
good  old  authors  and  left  to  browse  at  will.  And  Lamb  was  right. 
There  is  no  education  much  better  than  that  for  a  healthy  boy  or  girl — 
provided  only  the  library  be  well  chosen.  During  the  last  fifteen  or 
twenty  years  the  formal  study  of  English  Hterature  has  been  introduced 
into  all  our  colleges  and  schools.  It  is,  doubtless,  a  wise  movement  and 
one  to  which  some  of  us  have  been  very  glad  to  lend  any  influence  we 
may  have  had;  yet  I  must  admit  that  there  is  a  great  danger  in  thus 
setting  the  works  of  the  masters  as  a  schoolboy's  task.  A  little  unwis- 
dom in  the  mode  of  teaching,  a  little  over-insistence  on  unimportant 
detail,  a  little  dryness  and  pedantry  in  the  manner  of  interpretation, 
and  you  may  spoil  a  great  classic  for  a  pupil  forever;  for,  though  you 
may  do  something  to  encourage  or  to  guide  a  growing  taste,  you  cannot 
safely  dictate  to  it.  We  resent  any  attempt  to  force  our  incHnation.' 
No  book  worth  reading,  it  is  true,  will  be  read  for  mere  amusement; 
but,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  true  that  all  reading  that  is  good  for  much 
is  sure  to  be  done  with  pleasure.  There  could  hardly  be  a  greater 
injury  to  a  boy  than  to  make  it  impossible  for  him,  through  all  his  later 
years,  to  think  of  some  great  work  of  Shakespeare,  or  Milton  or  Brown- 
ing or  Tennyson,  as  anything  else  than 

The  drill'd  dull  lesson,  forc'd  down  word  by  word 
In  my  repugnant  youth. 


LITERATURE  AND  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  45 

It  is  Byron's  phrase  of  his  Horace,  and  you  remember  he  adds, 
Then  farewell  Horace,  whom  I  hated  so, 


it  IS  a  curse 


To  comprehend,  but  never  love  thy  verse. 

It  is  to  be  feared  that  some  men  will  have  a  similar  distaste  for  the 
English  classics  of  their  school  days. 

But  in  the  home  this  need  never  be  possible.  Here  the  taste  of  the 
growing  boy  or  girl,  guided  by  wise  suggestion,  but  guided  insensibly 
and  never  compelled,  seems  to  discover  and  to  appropriate  whatever  is 
suited  to  its  growing  capacity;  and  that  is  the  best  and  surest  mode  of 
development.  A  love  for  good  books  formed  in  this  way  is  likely  to 
be  lifelong;  and  such  a  love  for  the  best  of  the  world's  recorded  thought 
and  emotion,  gained  in  the  atmosphere  of  a  Christian  home,  is  certainly 
one  of  the  most  efficient  aids  to  a  genuinely  religious  education. 


DISCUSSION 
PROFESSOR  HERMAN  H.  HORNE,  PH.D., 

DARTMOUTH   COLLEGE,  HANOVER,  NEW   HAMPSHIRE 

I  wish  to  indicate  how  rehgious  education  in  the  home  may  become 
(i)  the  guaranty  of  the  value  of  the  home  as  a  social  institution,  and 
(2)  the  remedy  for  certain  dangers  that  now  threaten  the  American 
home. 

The  value  of  the  home  as  a  social  institution  rests  upon  five-  con- 
siderations: (i)  it  is  the  first  in  time  and  importance  of  the  institutions 
of  man,  the  others  being  the  school,  the  vocation,  the  state,  and  the 
church;  (2)  it  is  the  primal  unit  of  society  and  has  been  so  from  the 
beginning  of  civihzation  until  now,  about  which  all  the  interests  of 
man  are  grouped;  (3)  in  it  center  all  the  elements  of  man-making, 
namely,  heredity,  environment,  and  will;  (4)  it  is  the  temple  of  human 
love,  the  sacred  shrine  of  the  heart  of  humanity;  and  (5)  it  is  the  pat- 
tern of  heaven  upon  earth,  the  consummation  of  the  ages  being  the 
establishment  among  men  of  the  family  of  God,  wherein  all  are  brethren 
and  God  their  Father. 

Certain  dangers  that  threaten  the  American  home,  looming  larger 
on  the  horizon  than  the  size  of  a  man's  hand,  are:  (i)  the  exchange 
by  marriage  of  the  fortune  of  an  American  heiress  for  the  title  of  a 
degenerate  foreign  nobleman.  (2)  Home-life  is  being  laughed  at  through 
the  comic  press  and  the  "funny  columns"  of  the  newspapers.  (3)  Men 
are  putting  asunder  through  divorce  what  God  has  joined  together. 
(4)  Our  women  are  too  much  leaving  undone  those  things  of  the  home 
which  they  alone  can  do,  and  are  seeking  to  do  those  things  out  of  the 
home  which  men  alone  should  do.  (5)  But  the  man  is  the  greater 
sinner,  necessity  taking  the  father  from  the  home  during  the  working 
hours  of  the  day;  and  preference,  too  often,  causing  his  absence  during 
the  remaining  hours.  (6)  And  most  ominous  of  all,  in  consequence 
of  all,  the  decadence  of  family  rehgion. 

These  are  the  values  and  the  dangers.  What  are  the  safeguards 
and  remedies?  The  burden  cannot  be  thrown  by  the  home  upon  the 
church,  for  the  church  without  the  home  has  been  able  to  do  but  Uttle; 
nor  upon  the  already  over-burdened  public  school,  for  it  must  use — 
it  can  neither  of  its  ability  nor  legally  make — religious  foundations. 
The  home  must  bear  its  own  burden.     We  cannot  go  backward  to 

46 


DISCUSSION 


47 


good  old  things:  we  must  go  forward  and  to  better  new  things.     What 
things  ? 

The  modern  Christian  American  home  must  represent  the  follow- 
ing forces: 

1.  A  careful  and  enhghtened  choice  of  hfe-partners. 

2.  The  well-born  child  must  grow  up  in  a  rehgious  atmosphere  in 
the  home.  Thus  is  provided  a  religious  environment  in  which  the 
good  heredity  may  thrive. 

3.  The  father,  and  also  the  mother,  must  resume  the  work  of  defi- 
nite religious  instruction  of  the  children.  The  strength  of  the  father 
and  the  tenderness  of  the  mother  must  blend  in  the  work  of  imparting 
Christian  truth. 

4.  What  shall  be  the  method  of  child-nurture  and  admonition  ? 
Not  less  than  these  three  things:  (i)  Each  rehgious  truth  must  be  taught 
in  a  way  suitable  to  the  comprehension  of  the  particular  child.  If  so, 
according  to  the  principle  of  ideo-motor  action,  the  truth  will  tend  to 
act  itself  out  in  conduct.  (2)  The  child  must  do  rehgious  things.  As 
Pascal  observed,  we  must  excite  religious  feehngs  by  doing  religious 
deeds.  In  the  interest  of  the  spiritual  development  of  the  child,  better 
his  doing  one  rehgious  deed  than  learning  many  religious  truths.  (3) 
Parents  must  be  what  they  want  their  children  to  become.  "I  must  do 
as  father  says,"  is  not  so  prominent  in  the  boy's  Hfe  as  "I  must  do  as 
father  does.^^  The  great  law  of  growing  Ufe  is  imitation.  Children 
must  find  the  lives  of  their  parents  the  incarnation  of  the  truth  of  God, 
Religious  ideas,  religious  actions,  religious  models — these  at  least  are 
essential  methods  of  an  adequate  religious  education  of  children. 

5.  What  is  the  content  of  such  an  adequate  rehgious  education  of 
children  ?  Not  less  than  these  few  things:  (i)  The  presence  at  all  times 
of  a  Heavenly  Father  who  loves  children,  who  wants  children  to  love 
Him,  and  who  is  grieved,  but  not  angered,  when  they  do  wrong.  (2) 
The  sign  of  the  real  presence  of  the  Heavenly  Father  in  the  conscious 
sense  of  right,  in  the  natural  love  of  truth,  in  all  enjoyment  of  beautiful 
things,  and  in  the  pleasures  of  childhood.  (3)  The  value  of  the  child's 
life,  as  of  any  life  indeed,  depends  upon  the  loving  of  all  things  that 
the  Father  loves,  and  growing  daily  into  His  likeness  as  His  children. 
(4)  Our  love  to  Him  can  be  best  and  most  truly  shown  by  loving  our 
brothers  and  sisters  and  parents  and  relatives,  our  friends  and  neighbors, 
our  companions  and  playmates,  and  everybody  everywhere.  (5)  The 
life  among  men  approved  unto  God  as  worthy  of  all  acceptation  is 
Jesus,  the  Lover  and  Savior  of  children  and  men.  (6)  And  when  a 
member  of  the  household,  or  a  friend,  dies,  the  thought  that  he  still 
lives  in  another  and  larger  room  in  the  Father's  house. 


48  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

Thus  simply  and  naturally  may  the  great  truths  of  the  Christian 
rehgion — God,  Freedom,  and  ImmortaHty;  the  Incarnation  and  the 
Atonement;  Liberty,  Equahty,  Fraternity — grow  into  and  out  of  the 
child's  life  in  the  home.  Such  simple,  great  views  of  Ufe  as  these  a 
multitude  of  parents  in  the  land,  professing  no  Christian  aMiation, 
might  impart  to  their  trusting  children. 

6.  The  aim  of  such  rehgious  instruction  is  practical;  it  is  the  cul- 
tivation of  the  habit  of  religion  in  Ufe;  it  is  to  give  the  will  of  the  child 
that  bent  toward  the  rehgious  hfe  which  will  incline  the  man;  it  is  the 
growth  of  the  child  in  God  toward  God.  This  aim  we  find  in  the 
realization  of  those  words  of  Mr.  Moody:  "We  might  train  them  [our 
children]  that  they  shall  be  converted  so  early  they  can't  tell  when 
they  were  converted;"  or  in  those  earHer  words  of  Horace  Bushnell: 
"A  child  is  to  grow  up  a  Christian  and  never  know  himself  as  being 
otherwise."  This  aim  is  to  join  with  Jesus  Christ  in  the  enthronement 
of  little  children  as  rehgious  beings  when  He  spoke  the  emancipating 
word  of  childhood:  "Suffer  httle  children  to  come  unto  me  and  forbid 
them  not,  for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  Heaven." 

Thus  all  told,  will  rehgious  education  in  the  home  become  the 
guaranty  of  the  value  of  the  home  as  a  social  institution  and  a  remedy 
for  its  present  imminent  dangers.  In  the  words  of  Dr.  Henry  Ware: 
"To  Adam,  Paradise  was  home.  To  the  good  among  his  descendants, 
home  is  paradise." 

MISS  MARY  E.  HUTCHESON, 

CHAIRMAN  COMMITTEE  ON  EDUCATION,  OHIO  CONGRESS  OF  MOTHERS,  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

The  responsibility  of  parents  in  co-operating  with  the  work  of  the 
religious  teacher  is  generally  recognized.  Usually  effort  is  made  to 
secure  such  co-operation  in  order  that  the  lesson  task  assigned  in  the 
Sunday  school  may  become  the  mental  possession  of  the  pupil  through 
effort  put  forth  in  the  home.  At  this  time  I  wish  briefly  to  call  atten- 
tion to  the  responsibility  of  parents  as  supervisors  of  religious  practice 
in  the  home,  thus  recognizing  the  need  for  their  co-operation,  not  only 
in  seeing  that  lessons  are  learned,  but  that  they  are  lived. 

The  end  sought  in  religious  instruction  is  the  knowledge  of  God. 
"To  know  God,"  we  are  told,  "is  hfe."  Living,  therefore,  can  alone 
become  the  means  of  truly  knowing  God.  If  so,  religious  education 
fails  if  it  stops,  in  thought  or  purpose,  plan  or  method,  short  of  hfe  as  its 
ultimate  aim. 

As  an  essential  condition  of  right  living,  man's  chief  business  in 
this  world  is  to  realize  his  spiritual  relationships,  that  is,  to  realize  the 


DISCUSSION  49 

relationship  in  which  he  stands  as  a  spiritual  being  to  other  spirit-life 
outside  his  own,  both  divine  and  human.  The  knowledge  needed  by 
him  to  this  end  makes  instruction  and  training  a  necessity. 

To  acquire  a  complete  knowledge  of  religious  or  spiritual  truth 
bearing  upon  the  relation  of  the  soul  to  God,  two  revelations  are  essen- 
tial— the  revelation  of  the  truth  to  thought,  and  the  revelation  of  the 
truth  through  experience.  Man's  part  as  a  co-worker  with  God  in 
leading  souls  to  Him  is,  therefore,  of  a  twofold  character.  He  is  not 
only  called  to  teach  the  truth  about  God,  but  more  especially  is  it  his 
duty  to  create  the  conditions  in  which  and  through  which  the  revelation 
of  spiritual  truth  is  received  by  the  learner  as  the  outcome  of  God's 
own  work  within  the  soul.  In  this  revelation  of  Himself  through 
experience  lies  God's  opportunity  for  working  continually  in  a  life  for 
the  purpose  of  anchoring  the  soul  more  and  more  to  Himself.  It  also 
becomes  the  means  whereby  the  spiritual  Hfe  grows.  Everywhere, 
growth  and  hfe  are  God's  work.  The  spiritual  life  is  no  exception  to 
this  law. 

As  a  means  of  religious  culture,  the  revelation  of  truth  through 
instruction  has  received  almost  exclusive  attention  in  the  work  of  reli- 
gious education.  No  educational  effort  can  be  vital,  however,  without 
the  recognition  of  this  fundamental  truth,  that  God  alone  has  the  power 
to  give  man  the  revelation  of  Himself  so  that  he  may  truly  know  Him 
and  realize  his  relationship  to  Him.  God's  work  in  the  soul  thus 
becomes  the  central  fact  of  educational  effort,  determining  everything 
for  which  man  is  responsible  in  carrying  forward  the  work  of  religious 
education. 

As  revealed  to  us,  the  divine  scheme  of  soul-growth  and  religious 
development  reaches  its  culmination  as  set  forth  in  the  New  Testament. 
Guided  by  this,  we  find  that  religious  education  must  be  directed  with 
reference  to  two  great  facts,  one  standing  at  the  beginning  and  the  other 
at  the  end  of  the  great  work  of  redemption  wrought  through  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord.  "By  the  mystery  of  Thy  holy  incarnation" — this, 
the  first  fact,  furnishes  the  foundation,  because  it  makes  man's  relation 
to  God  rest  upon  the  acceptance  and  use  of  a  new  Force,  Power,  Life, 
that  came  into  the  world  that  man  might  be  built  up  in  the  life  and 
likeness  of  God.  The  second,  "by  the  coming  of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  also 
accepted  as  fact,  discloses  God  actually  present  today  in  human  life, 
and  "working  within"  as  the  Supreme  Factor  in  an  educational  process 
designed  to  lead  toward  the  end  sought  by  God — the  revelation  of  Him- 
self to  the  soul  through  the  development  of  the  God-consciorusness. 

On  this  basis,  religious  education,  in  so  far  as  man  may  provide  for 


50  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

it,  becomes  chiefly  an  effort  to  realize  the  conditions  essential  to  the 
growth  of  the  religious,  spiritual  nature,  on  lines  laid  down  by  God 
Himself.  These  conditions  of  growth  are  fixed,  unalterable,  because 
decreed  to  be  by  Him  who  is  above  all  and  over  all.  This  is  equally 
true  of  the  development  of  all  life.  No  amount  of  learning,  therefore, 
will  avail  for  spiritual  growth  unless  these  conditions  and  these  only  are 
realized.  God  will  do  His  own  work  in  His  own  way.  All  man  can  do 
is  to  co-operate  with  Him  as  an  apprentice  who  places  himself  under  the 
guidance  and  direction  of  the  Master  workman. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  religious  instruction  is  neither  the  beginning 
nor  the  end  of  religious  education,  though  a  very  necessary  part  of  it  in 
realizing  the  conditions  essential  to  spiritual  growth  and  life.  It  is  a 
part,  however,  which  may  absolutely  fail  of  result,  and  will  so  fail  if 
there  is  not  a  clear  understanding  of  its  purpose  in  contributing  to  the 
work  of  religious  development.  It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  religious 
instruction  cannot  produce,  but  may  lead  to,  spiritual  life;  for  the  jact 
of  spiritual  growth  is,  must  ever  be,  a  matter  solely  between  God  and  the 
individual  soul.  A  complete  educational  process  can  alone  produce  soul- 
growth  and  lead  to  a  true  knowledge  of  God.  This  requires  that  the 
truth  which  the  pupil  receives  in  the  form  of  doctrinal  or  verbal  state- 
ment shall  find  its  interpretation  and  manifestation  in  his  own  individual 
life-experience;  for  it  is  with  the  actual  exercise  of  soul-force  that  God 
Himself  co-operates;  and  it  is  in  and  through  life,  and  not  through 
words,  that  God  manifests  His  power  and  presence  to  the  conscious 
self. 

To  illustrate:  A  pupil  may  be  taught  all  that  he  should  know  about 
prayer,  but,  if  he  never  prays,  God  is  denied  the  opportunity  for  mani- 
festing or  revealing  to  him  the  reality  of  the  truth  declared  about  prayer 
— that  it  is  necessary  to  the  growth  of  the  soul  because  it  provides  a 
means  of  union  with  God.  Someone,  therefore,  must  see  that  the  truth 
taught  about  prayer  becomes  a  part  of  the  pupil's  life-experience,  if  it 
has  any  value  in  promoting  his  religious  development.  If  instruction 
presents  Jesus  Christ  as  One  whose  presence  in  the  soul  sanctifies  life 
in  all  of  its  manifestations,  while  the  pupil  thus  taught  lives  an  alien 
to  this  sanctifying,  redeeming  influence,  God  is  again  denied  the  oppor- 
tunity to  prove  through  life  His  power  to  save  and  redeem  the  soul. 
Thus  as  in  the  matter  of  prayer,  the  witness  to,  or  revelation  of.  Himself 
is  incomplete;  and,  once  more,  instruction  is  of  no  avail  in  promoting 
growth  in  holiness.  In  fact,  there  can  be  no  religious  culture  as  the 
outcome  of  religious  teaching  unless  religious  teaching  leads  the  way 
to   an   output   of   spirit-force  acting   in  union  with   the  life  of  God. 


DISCUSSION  51 

Human  experience,  therefore,  must  interpret  and  manifest  to  the  indi- 
vidual soul  the  truth  of  theological  statement,  and  religious  teaching 
must  work  to  this  end  if  religion  is  truly  to  save  the  race  by  lifting 
human  life  from  the  earth  level  into  union  with  the  Life  Divine. 

For  this  reason  it  is  of  supreme  importance  that  the  home  should 
become  a  school  oj  practice  wherein  the  truth  received  as  instruction 
may  be  used  to  lead  the  pupil  to  self-active  effort  on  the  plane  of  spiritual 
being.  The  teacher  and  the  special  lesson  which  the  school  provides 
must  of  necessity  deal  chiefly  with  words.  But  such  teaching  to  be 
vital  must,  for  reasons  stated,  be  supplemented  and  completed  by  others 
who  translate  the  words  into  living  deeds  in  which  spirit-force  acts  and 
grows  through  this  activity.  To  see  that  the  truth  taught  on  Sunday 
is  thus  lived  into  being  must  be  chiefly  the  responsibility  of  the  parents 
in  the  home.  If  the  teaching  bear  no  fruit,  the  chief  responsibility  for 
its  failure  must  rest  there  also. 

To  establish  this  vital  relation  between  doctrine  and  life,  instruction 
and  practice,  co-operative  effort  would  be  necessary  between  the  teacher 
of  religious  truth  and  the  supervisor  of  religious  practice.  Parents  and 
teachers  of  the  same  children  would  be  obliged  to  come  together  to  study 
the  lesson,  that  each  might  co-operate  with  the  other  in  making  the 
result  truly  of  value.  It  would  also  be  necessary  that  the  religious  needs 
of  the  pupil  should  be  similarly  understood  by  those  who  taught  him  on 
Sunday  and  those  who  guided  him  in  his  practice  during  the  week. 
Agreement  between  these  co-operating  forces  would  also  be  necessary 
as  to  the  purpose,  plan,  and  method  of  instruction;  and  conference  would 
be  essential  in  arriving  at  conclusions  as  to  the  success  or  failure  resulting 
from  such  a  combination  of  effort. 

In  this  work  of  co-operation  the  initiative  should  be  taken,  it  seems 
to  me,  by  those  whose  special  duty  it  is  to  instruct  the  young  in  religious 
truth.  By  some  such  plan  they  must  seek  to  follow  their  charges  into 
the  environment  of  the  home,  and  also  of  the  day  school,  and  help  to 
create  there  the  conditions  that  will  reinforce  and  strengthen  their  own 
special  effort.  Unless  their  instruction  can  thus  be  made  to  tell,  in  some 
definite,  practical  way,  in  character  and  godly  living,  it  cannot  fail  to  be 
largely  fruitless  effort.  The  true  mission  of  religious  education  is  to 
give  God  an  ever-deepening  hold  on  human  life.  This  mission  cannot 
be  accomplished  through  the  efforts  of  the  special  teacher  of  religion 
without  the  intelligent,  earnest  co-operation  of  those  with  whom  the 
children  of  this  country  live,  in  home  and  school,  during  the  week  fol- 
lowing the  Sunday  lesson ;  for  with  them  lies  the  opportunity,  and  upon 
them  rests  the  responsibility,  to  see  that  the  truth  revealed  to  thought 


52  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

results  in  positive  effort  Godward,  in  which  effort  God  Himself  may 
enter  the  life  to  upbuild  and  to  save  it.  It  is  in  the  activities  of  the  home 
and  of  the  school  that  God  must  be  given  the  opportunity  to  do  His 
work  in  the  individual  soul,  and  thus  bring  religious  instruction  to  its 
fruition. 

REV.  CHARLES  L.  FRY, 

LITERARY  SECRETARY  OF    THE    LUTHER    LEAGUE    OF  AMERICA,   PASTOR 
ST.   LUKE'S    LUTHERAN   CHURCH,    PHILADELPHIA 

The  prominence  of  the  place  which  the  Gospel  assigns  to  the  child 
in  the  Kingdom  of  God  is  not  yet  fully  realized,  notwithstanding  all  the 
boasted  advance  in  our  modern  child-study  as  a  pedagogical  science. 
Ever  since  the  Lord  Jehovah  first  established  His  covenant  with  man, 
far  back  in  that  remote  age  of  Abraham  in  the  land  of  promise,  the  child 
has  had  an  integral  part  in  the  covenant  relation,  not  by  human  toler- 
ance or  mere  inference,  but  by  express  divine  decree  and  positive  divine 
command.  In  no  respect  is  the  religion  of  the  Bible  more  unique 
among  the  religions  of  mankind  than  in  its  unparalleled  attitude  toward 
the  child. 

And  this  pertains  equally  to  both  Testaments.  Surely  the  New 
Testament  does  not  stand  on  a  lower  plane,  in  reference  to  the  child's 
inahenable  right  to  membership  in  the  church,  than  did  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. The  Messiah,  who  Himself  came  into  the  world  as  the  Babe  of 
Bethlehem,  and  who  was  circumcised  on  the  eighth  day,  had  so  marvel- 
ous and  unheard-of  an  estimate  of  regenerate  childhood  as  to  make 
it  the  very  standard  and  touchstone  of  true  discipleship.  So  far  from 
compelling  the  child  to  wait  for  the  Holy  Spirit's  regeneration  until 
the  attainment  of  adult  years  and  character.  He,  on  the  contrary,  com- 
pletely reversed  this  rule,  and  forever  laid  down  the  spiritual  principle 
which  admits  of  no  exception,  as  He  set  a  little  child  in  the  midst  of  His 
disciples,  and  said:  "Verily  I  say  unto  you,  Whosoever  shall  not  receive 
the  Kingdom  of  God  as  a  Uttle  child,  he  shall  not  enter  therein." 

The  cradle  roll  of  our  Sunday  schools,  therefore,  contains  the  names 
of  those  little  ones  who  by  virtue  of  their  Christian  baptism  are  in  the 
membership  of  the  church,  not  by  sufferance,  but  by  God's  own  ordi- 
nance; not  in  a  metaphorical  or  figurative  sense,  but  really  and  truly 
invested  with  all  the  rights  and  privileges  of  full  members  of  the  fold; 
thus  an  integral  part  of  the  congregation,  and  by  no  means  an  unim- 
portant part.  We  Protestants  have  been  very  slow  to  learn  how  tre- 
mendous a  truth  is  expressed  in  that  familiar  maxim  of  the  Jesuits: 
"  Give  us  your  child  until  seven  years  of  age,  and  his  religious  convictions 


DISCUSSION  53 

will  be  planted  so  deep  that  they  can  never  be  uprooted."  In  the  face 
of  a  fact  so  far-reaching  in  its  application,  and  so  abundantly  verified 
by  Rome's  wiser  policy,  what  a  fatal  mistake  that  we  are  taking  so  little 
advantage  of  that  earliest  era  in  the  child's  life. 

A  Christian  kindergarten  is  radically  different  from  the  Froebel 
type  in  its  entire  principle  and  motive.  What  an  infinite  pity  that  a 
system  which  has  wrought  such  a  blessed  transformation  in  the  e-ducing, 
the  drawing-out,  of  the  child's  native  faculties  should  utterly  ignore  the 
essential  transformation  of  the  nature  itself  first  of  all,  by  the  regenerating 
power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  through  His  appointed  means  of  grace.  That 
which  is  born  of  the  flesh  is  flesh,  and  no  human  system  of  education  can 
change  the  heart,  out  of  which  are  the  issues  of  life.  If  there  is  to  be  an 
altogether  new  nature,  with  new  propensities,  new  ideals,  new  disposi- 
tion, new  impulses,  new  hopes  and  aspirations  and  joys,  the  very  oppo- 
site of  those  of  the  nature  with  which  we  were  born,  this  miracle  of 
regeneration  can  be  wrought,  not  by  man,  but  by  the  grace  of  God 
alone.  The  problem  of  religious  education  then  is  a  problem  not  so 
much  of  education  in  the  technical  sense,  but  of  "instruction"  in  the 
Christian  sense;  i.  e.,  a  " building-in "  of  what  our  sinful  nature  lacks, 
and  cannot  possibly  attain  apart  from  the  divine  Word,  and  the  spiritual 
life  and  power  inherent  in  this  Word. 

Two  vital  truths  are  involved  in  this  statement.  First,  the  tremen- 
dous emphasis  which  must  be  put  upon  that  which  is  objective  in  religious 
instruction,  viz.,  God's  inspired  Scripture,  as  over  against  undue  stress 
on  the  subjective  element.  Take  away  this  objective  substance  of  the 
instruction,  and  lay  stress  only  on  the  subjective,  winsome  personality 
of  the  teacher,  and  you  have  no  enduring,  sure  foundation  on  which  to 
build  the  structure  of  a  steadfast  Christian  character.  Whoever, 
therefore,  is  exerting  his  power  to  undermine  the  absolute  authority 
of  the  Holy  Bible  as  our  only  divine  rule  of  faith  and  life,  which  has  been 
the  cardinal  principle  of  Protestantism  from  the  beginning,  is  doing  the 
most  disastrous  harm  to  his  generation  of  which  a  human  soul  is  capable. 
Whoever,  on  the  other  hand,  is  counting  it  the  chiefest  mission  of  his 
existence  to  be  a  living  exponent  of  this  inspired  Word,  and  to  extend 
the  knowledge  of  its  redeeming  power,  is  fulfilling  the  highest  destiny  of 
man. 

The  inherent  regenerative  power  of  the  Word  is  the  other  great  truth 
here  presented,  as  applicable  to  the  problem  of  religious  education. 
There  are  other  books  of  information  in  the  world,  but  under  all  the 
face  of  the  sky  there  is  only  one  Book  of  Life.  This  is  the  Word  which 
the  Holy  Ghost  inspired,  in  which  He  dwells,  through  which  He  com- 


54  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

municates  Himself  to  the  receptive  soul.  Spiritual  power,  then,  is  not 
an  evolution,  but  a  gift.  We  do  not  generate  it,  we  receive  it.  The 
divine  Word  which  is  the  instrument  of  the  Spirit  is  instinct  with  His 
own  energy.  It  pulses  and  throbs  with  His  own  life.  Let  us  be  careful 
not  to  think  of  the  Bible  as  something  inert,  a  mere  dictionary  of  theologi- 
cal terms,  or  directory  of  good  morals;  but  rather  as  a  living  potency, 
quick  and  powerful,  sharper  than  a  two-edged  sword,  piercing  even  to 
the  dividing  asunder  of  soul  and  spirit,  and  of  the  joints  and  marrow, 
and  as  a  discerner  of  the  thoughts  and  intents  of  the  heart.  Suppose 
this  were  actually  the  general  conception  of  it  in  the  mind  of  Christen- 
dom !  Suppose  that  when  the  preacher  takes  it  up  to  expound  it  in  the 
pulpit,  or  when  the  teacher  and  pupils  take  it  up  in  the  Sunday  school, 
or  when  the  father  of  the  household  takes  it  up  for  family  worship,  or 
when  the  individual  soul  takes  it  up  for  personal  devotion— suppose 
that  everyone  would  do  so  with  the  specific  intent,  the  definite  prayerful 
purpose,  that  the  Holy  Spirit  would  make  that  Scripture  to  be  His 
means  of  conveying  His  quickening,  energizing,  sanctifying  grace  to  the 
waiting  heart,  how  different  would  be  our  study  of  the  Word,  and  how 
different  its  results. 

A  high  conception  of  the  inspired  Book  as  God's  means  of  grace 
may  be  instilled  already  in  childhood.  St.  Paul  is  setting  the  true  uni- 
versal rule  and  standard  when  he  writes  to  Timothy:  "From  a  child 
thou  hast  known  the  Holy  Scriptures  as  able  to  make  thee  wise  unto 
salvation,  through  faith  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus."  A  child  may  grow 
in  this  heavenly  wisdom  as  he  grows  in  stature,  and  this  fact  is  expressly 
instanced  in  that  description  of  the  childhood  of  our  Lord. 


THIRD    SESSION 

THE  BIBLE  IN  EDUCATION 


THE  QUALITIES  WHICH  MAKE  THE  BIBLE  EDUCATION- 
ALLY VALUABLE 

PROFESSOR  JOHN  E.  McFADYEN,  A.M., 

KNOX   COLLEGE,   TORONTO,   CANADA 

For  two  reasons  the  educational  value  of  the  Bible  is  unique:  first, 
because  it  deals  with  the  highest  things;  and  second,  because  it  deals 
with  those  things  in  the  simplest  way. 

What  are  the  highest  things  ?  They  are  those  which  have  to  do  with 
human  life.  The  young,  who  are  starting  life,  need  to  know  what  to 
do,  and  above  all,  what  to  be ;  and  there  is  no  book  which  so  persistently 
and  uniformly  keeps  those  things  before  the  mind  as  the  Bible.  It 
was  written  that  we  might  have  life ;  its  theme  is  life — the  highest  kind  of 
life. 

I .  The  quahties  of  the  Bible  of  which  I  first  wish  to  speak  are  three : 
(i)  its  seriousness,  (2)  its  reaHsm,  and  (3)  its  ideaHsm. 

(i)  From  the  beginning  to  the  end,  the  Bible  makes  us  feel  that  it 
is  a  serious  thing  to  live.  Life  is  not  a  thing  to  be  trifled  with,  still  less 
to  be  wasted;  but  to  be  spent  wisely,  carefully,  and  nobly.  It  is  a  gift, 
but  it  is  also  a  task.  The  stories  of  the  Bible  are  able  to  give  a  lift  to 
the  life  of  today,  because  they  are  the  stories  of  men  who  felt  that  they 
had  a  great  work  to  do,  and  no  time  to  waste  by  the  way,  and  that  they 
dare  not  turn  to  the  right  hand  or  the  left.  The  Bible  looks  the  facts  of 
life  in  the  face,  and  it  tells  the  truth  about  them.  It  knows  that  man 
has  to  earn  his  bread  by  the  sweat  of  his  brow  or  of  his  brain.  It  knows 
that  the  soil  from  which  he  has  to  wring  that  bread  of  his  is  often  hard 
and  stubborn.  It  knows  that  life  is  brief  at  the  best,  like  the  mountain 
flower  that  is  so  fair  in  the  early  morning,  and  is  withered  by  the  evening 
through  the  fierce  glare  of  the  pitiless  sun.  It  knows  all  these  things — 
no  book  knows  them  better;  but  that  only  makes  it  all  the  more  urgently 
impel  men  to  hasten  and  do  some  bit  of  strenuous  work  so  long  as  the 
sun  is  shining,  for  to  everyone  the  night  is  coming,  when  no  man  can 
work. 

Is  it  not  well  that  those  who  are  being  trained  to  go  forward  to  meet 
life's  facts  should  be  taught  from  a  book  which  compels  them  to  face 

55 


S6  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

those  facts  seriously  ?  No  art  is  so  hard  to  learn  as  the  art  of  life;  and 
in  this  art,  the  teaching  that  will  help  us  most  is  the  wise  and  strenuous 
teaching  of  the  Bible.  It  loves  to  compare  life  to  a  race,  or  to  a  battle; 
it  tells  us  that  it  is  a  stern  thing  in  which,  if  we  wish  to  succeed,  we  shall 
have  to  sit  down  and  count  the  cost.  It  tells  us  that,  if  we  would  build 
wisely,  we  shall  have  to  dig  deeply — down  to  the  rock — or  else,  when 
the  winds  and  the  rains  come,  as  come  they  do  to  every  human  life,  the 
house  will  topple  about  our  ears.  We  are  not  to  be  here  forever;  and, 
if  we  wish  our  life  to  tell,  then  we  shall  have  to  face  life's  high  tasks  with 
our  "soul  well  knit."  And  we  are  not  here  for  nothing;  we  are  here  to 
contribute  to  some  great  purpose,  to  be  the  best  that  we  can  be  and  to 
do  the  best  that  we  can  do.  It  is  here  that  the  Bible  so  powerfully  helps. 
It  shows  us,  now  in  this  form  and  now  in  that,  how  to  make  the  most  of 
ourselves,  and  that  we  cannot  make  the  most  of  ourselves  unless  we 
make  the  best  of  ourselves.  That  is  why  the  Bible  is  so  earnest.  It 
knows  that  Hfe  is  vain,  unless  it  is  spent  for  some  end  higher  than  itself. 
Call  it  the  "Father's  business,"  the  Kingdom  of  God,  or  what  you  will; 
but  unless  we  are  working  for  some  such  end,  then  our  little  lives  are 
lost. 

(2)  The  reaUsm  of  the  Bible.  The  Bible  brings  us  right  down  to 
the  actual  facts  of  life  and  makes  us  grapple  with  them.  True,  it 
sees  the  beyond;  there  is  always  a  far-away  look  in  its  eyes;  but  it  is 
to  be  noted  that  it  is  always  in  direct  contact  with  the  realities  of  life, 
and  also  helps  to  keep  those  who  study  it  in  touch  with  those  reahties, 
and  to  see  the  greatness  of  the  commonplace.  It  tells  us  that  the  earth 
is  the  Lord's— every  inch  of  it.  This  master- word  is  a  rebuke  to  the 
soaring  and  discontented  temper.  It  suggests  to  us  that  here  and  now, 
not  in  some  other  world  or  at  some  future  time,  we  are  to  develop  our 
powers  and  do  our  duties.  The  Bible  may  indeed  lift  Hfe  to  the  heavens; 
but  it  always  starts  from  the  earth,  and  comes  back  to  earth  again. 
The  earth  is  the  Lord's,  and  He  gave  it  to  the  children  of  men  to  live  in, 
to  work  in,  to  rejoice  in. 

Those  whom  we  are  training  have  to  learn  that  in  this  world  a  great 
work  has  to  be  done,  and  to  be  done  by  them.  It  is  this  world  in  which 
we  live  and  move  that  has  to  be  redeemed,  and  redeemed  in  part  by 
them.  The  type  of  character  which  the  Bible  is  intended  to  produce  is 
that  of  him  who  does  with  his  might  the  work  that  lies  to  his  hands. 
Think  of  the  great  men  of  Bible  story,  and  you  will  see  how  real  and 
strenuous  their  life  was.  They  were  men  who  beHeved  that  the  work  of 
their  hves  was  always  with  them,  and  that  it  was  always  possible  to 
serve.     Their  eyes  were  always  open  to  the  greatness  of  the  opportunity. 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  QUALITIES  OF  THE  BIBLE  57 

The  service  of  God  was  the  service  of  man;  and  for  the  inspiration  of 
their  lives  they  never  had  to  travel  far.  They  w^ere  men  who  were  in 
love  with  life,  because  they  realized  that  the  earth  was  the  Lord's,  and 
that  inspiration  and  opportunity  were  everywhere.  Perhaps  nowhere 
is  this  so  vividly  seen  as  in  the  parables  of  Christ.  What  is  the  meaning 
of  it  all — these  references  to  the  leaven,  the  patching  of  an  old  garment, 
the  mustard  seed,  the  fisherman's  net  ?  Does  it  not  mean  that  He 
noted  everything  and  loved  it  all  ?  He  saw  the  divineness  of  the  com- 
monplace. 

(3)  The  ideahsm  of  the  Bible.  We  have  just  seen  that  the  Bible 
keeps  us  in  touch  with  fact;  let  us  look  now  at  the  spirit  in  which  we  are 
to  deal  with  fact.  We  are  in  the  world;  we  are  to  love  and  use  it,  but 
not  for  its  own  sake;  we  are  in  the  world  to  realize  the  Kingdom  of  God 
— to  work  out  that  purpose  which  is  higher  than  you,  higher  than  I, 
but  which  needs  you  and  me  to  bring  it  to  pass.  To  do  this,  some  things 
help  us  very  much,  some  help  us  very  little,  and  others  hinder  and 
hamper  and  curse  us.  Now,  there  is  no  book  which  makes  so  plain 
and  clear  as  the  Bible  what  those  things  are,  and  what  attitude  we 
should  adopt  toward  them.  Whatever  hampers  the  spirit  in  this  great 
work,  which  is  its  true  work,  has  to  be  crushed.  Cut  it  off  and  cast  it 
from  you.  Evil  has  to  be  feared  and  shunned.  There  are  some  books 
which  try  to  gild  vice,  and  to  make  it  beautiful.  The  Bible  never  does 
that.  When  it  touches  evil,  it  is  always  to  show  how  dangerous  and 
deadly  it  is,  how  strong  men  like  Samson  have  been  slain  by  it,  and  how 
the  steps  thereof  are  the  pathway  to  hell.  The  Bible  not  only  puts 
first  things  first,  but  it  tells  us  what  those  first  things  are.  They  are  not 
meat  and  drink,  money  and  success ;  they  are  not  the  things  that  can  be 
weighed  and  counted,  but  the  things  that  a  man  can  be.  Now,  this  is 
perhaps  the  great  value  of  the  Bible;  it  stands  for  the  reality  and  neces- 
sity of  the  inner  life.  It  maintains  that  to  be  is  more  than  to  know, 
and  very  much  more  than  to  have;  and  that  is  a  lesson  needed  where 
knowledge  and  money  are  too  common  standards. 

The  Bible  puts  duty  first — duty  to  one's  self  and  duty  to  one's 
neighbors.  What  is  duty  to  one's  self  ?  It  is  to  be  the  best  and  to  do 
the  best  that  it  is  possible  for  us  to  be  and  do.  The  gospel  of  work  is 
proclaimed  almost  vehemently  from  fijst  to  last.  It  is  here  or  nowhere, 
it  is  now  or  never.  "Whatsoever  thy  hand  findeth  to  do,  do  it  with 
thy  might."  "Work,  for  the  night  is  coming."  Now,  what  is  duty  to 
others  ?  It  is  to  help  and  serve  them.  The  great  message  of  the  Bible 
is  that  the  highest  life  is  the  life  of  service.  Its  great  men  gave  them- 
selves to  great  causes.     Jesus  came  not  to  be  served,  but  to  serve,  and 


58  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

to  give  His  life.  And  further,  the  Bible  reveals  the  conditions  of  a 
strong  life.  If  a  man  would  be  strenuous  in  life's  activities  he  must 
know  what  it  is  to  rest,  to  sit  down  quietly  in  a  calm  hour  and  think. 
And  do  we  not  need  to  be  reminded  of  this  today — that  strength  comes 
in  part  from  solitude — today,  when  everyone  is  working  at  fever-heat, 
and  life  is  rushing  as  it  never  rushed  before?  "It  is  vain  for  you  to 
rise  up  early,  and  to  sit  down  so  late  to  the  evening  meal;  for  He  giveth 
to  His  beloved  in  sleep."  "Come  ye  yourselves  apart  into  a  desert 
place,  and  rest  a  while."  "He  leadeth  me  by  pastures  green,  and  by 
waters  of  rest." 

2.  The  Bible,  I  repeat,  deals  with  the  highest  things  in  the  simplest 
way.  The  qualities  of  which  I  wish  to  speak  briefly  in  this  connection 
are  two:  (i)  its  simplicity,  (2)  its  concreteness. 

(i)  The  Bible  has  the  profoundest  things  to  say  about  life,  and  it 
says  them  with  supreme  simplicity — with  that  simplicity  which  comes 
from  seeing  life  truly;  for  it  is  often  seen  that  simplicity  and  truth  go 
together.  One  gets  the  impression  from  the  men  who  wrote  the  Bible 
that  they  saw  through  and  through  the  objects  or  the  facts  they  describe. 
They  can  describe  vividly  because  they  see  clearly.  Their  words  cut 
swift  and  sure  into  the  heart  of  the  things  they  bring  before  us.  They 
are  words  for  the  wisest  man,  and  no  less  for  the  youngest  child.  It  is 
like  the  simple,  unaffected  speech  of  a  man  to  his  friend.  The  Bible 
comes  from  a  time  and  from  a  land  when  life  was  more  simple  than 
it  is  with  us  today,  and  it  does  one  good  to  get  back  to  the  simple 
words  of  the  ancient  men.  It  is  good  for  the  character,  and  good  for 
the  style.  For  the  Enghsh  language  will  never  be  more  beautifully 
written  than  it  is  written  in  the  English  Bible;  and,  to  say  nothing  at  all 
of  the  gain  to  the  life,  it  would  be  well  worth  the  while  of  every  child 
and  young  man  to  know  much  of  the  EngHsh  Bible  by  heart,  if  only 
for  the  influence  it  would  have  upon  his  own  writing  and  speech.  There 
are  many  who  can  write  today  with  force  and  vigor,  but  there  are  not 
so  many  who  write  with  simplicity  and  beauty  and  dignity;  and  this  is 
one  of  the  effects  that  the  study  of  the  English  Bible  can  produce.  The 
Bible  is  written  in  a  grandly  simple  style;  however,  I  do  not  speak  of 
that  so  much,  but  rather  of  the  power  that  its  simple  words  possess  of 
piercing  the  heart,  of  making  us  stop  and  look  and  listen.  It  is  good  not 
only  for  the  young,  but  for  us  all,  to  come  into  contact  with  this  sim- 
plicity— simplicity  of  style,  of  thought,  and  of  life;  to  leave  the  com- 
plexities of  modern  life  and  speech,  and  return  to  the  days  of  tents, 
when  the  world  was  fresh  and  young. 

(2)   The  concreteness  of  the  Bible.     We  have  said  that  the  Bible 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  QUALITIES  OF  THE  BIBLE  59 

brings  its  great  truths  before  us  in  the  simplest  way.  Now,  the  sim- 
plest way  is  the  way  that  you  can  see;  and  so  the  Bible  does  not  simply 
tell  us  what  to  do,  it  shows  us  what  to  be.  The  truth  which  takes  hold 
of  the  ordinary  mind  is  pictorial  truth,  and  that  is  the  sort  of  truth  which 
the  Bible  loves  to  present.  The  idea  is  illustrated  by  the  phrase,  "the 
truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus."  In  the  main,  the  Bible  is  interested  in  living 
presentations  of  truth,  truth  as  it  is  in  somebody,  not  merely  as  it  is 
proclaimed  by  him — though  that  too  is  important — but  as  it  is  repre- 
sented and  lived  by  him.  We  need  more  than  to  hear  a  good  word;  we 
need  to  see  that  word  made  flesh.  And  in  the  Bible  the  word  is  always 
becoming  flesh.  Truth  is  being  continually  brought  before  us  in  such  a 
way  that  we  can  see  it  with  our  eyes.  The  Bible  is  always  saying, 
"Behold!"  It  not  merely  tells  us  about  truth,  but  shows  it  in  action, 
in  flesh  and  blood,  with  all  the  glow  and  color  of  hfe.  It  presents  us 
with  truth  that  we  can  see,  and  therefore  that  we  ourselves  can  be,  or, 
at  any  rate,  aspire  to.  It  does  not  merely  tell  us,  for  example,  to  be 
prepared  to  sacrifice  the  thing  we  love  best  at  the  call  of  God,  if  indeed  it 
be  the  call  of  God,  but  it  shows  us  Abraham  ready  to  give  the  life  of  his 
dearest  son.  It  not  only  urges  purity;  it  shows  us  Joseph  repelling  the 
temptress  of  Egypt  with  brave  and  ever-memorable  words.  It  does 
more  than  assure  us  that  one  thing  is  needful;  it  shows  us  Mary  sitting 
at  the  Master's  feet. 

This  is  one  of  the  helpful  features  of  the  Bible,  especially  to  the  young 
mind ;  for  it  cannot  but  be  a  stimulus  to  watch  the  long  line  of  good  men 
who  successfully  did  the  thing  we  are  trying  to  do.  In  them  we  see  that 
what  ought  to  be  done  both  can  be  done  and  has  been  done,  and  we 
too  can  then  take  heart  to  run  with  patience  the  race  that  is  set  before 
us.  It  does  us  good  to  company  with  the  men  who  made  history,  and 
surely  no  one  has  done  for  history  what  Jesus  Christ  has  done.  It  is 
not  too  much  to  say  that  He  has  transfigured  the  face  of  the  world,  and 
that  it  is  on  the  lines  laid  down  by  Him  or  rather  in  the  spirit  created  by 
Him,  that  the  work  of  the  world  that  has  yet  to  be  done  will  be  done; 
and  no  training  which  claims  to  fit  the  child  or  the  young  man  for  the 
work  of  his  life  can  afford  to  leave  out  of  sight  the  life  and  words  of  Him 
who  was,  to  say  the  least,  the  greatest  man  in  history.  If  the  teacher's 
task  is,  at  least  in  part,  to  fit  the  pupil  for  the  highest  type  of  life,  it  is 
surely  but  right  that  he  should  ask  him  to  study  the  words  of  One  who 
spake  as  never  man  spake,  and  the  life  of  Him  with  whom  even  His  foes 
could  find  no  fault. 

And  just  as  the  figures  of  the  Bible  stand  out  before  the  eye,  so  the 
music  of  its  words  haunts  the  ear,  and  dwells  like  an  inspiration  in  the 


6o  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

heart.  They  stir  the  blood,  they  brace  the  moral  nature,  and  they  send 
us  forth  with  hope  and  cheer  to  play  our  part  like  men.  The  power  of 
the  Bible  lies  in  its  saying  the  highest  things  in  the  simplest  way;  and, 
if  wisely  taught,  it  is  able  to  make  life  sweet  and  clean  and  strong  and 
fruitful. 


THE  CONTACT  OF  BIBLICAL  MATERIAL  WITH  THE 
EXPERIENCE  OF  THE  CHILD 

MISS  JOSEPHINE  L.  BALDWIN, 

SUPERINTENDENT    ELEMENTARY  WORK,  NEW  JERSEY   STATE   SUNDAY   SCHOOL  ASSO- 
CIATION, NEWARK,  NEW  JERSEY 

In  the  religious  world  of  today,  when  relative  values  seem  to  be 
more  justly  estimated  than  in  former  times,  the  Bible  is  accorded  a 
place  high  above  all  the  man-made  theologies  which  for  so  long 
fairly  hid  the  Word  of  God  from  view;  and  the  child  has  permanently 
emerged  from  the  dim  obscurity  to  which  he  was  relegated  when  it  was 
considered  that  the  highest  virtue  he  could  display  before  his  elders  was 
the  ability  to  be  seen  without  being  heard.  The  very  existence  of  such 
a  convention  as  this  proves  that  thinking  people  are  beginning  to  realize 
the  transcendent  importance  of  these  two  factors — the  Bible  and  the 
child — in  shaping  the  world's  destiny. 

The  world  of  tomorrow  will  have  prisons  and  workhouses,  halls  of 
government  and  churches,  and  these  represent  possibilities  in  the  lives 
of  those  who  today  are  children.  Whether  that  future  in  the  case  of  any 
individual  child  shall  be  one  of  infamy  or  honor,  degradation  or  nobility, 
will  depend  entirely  upon  whether  or  not  the  life  is  brought  at  least  to 
some  degree  in  accord  with  the  teachings  of  the  world's  great  Text- 
Book  of  morality  and  religion.  More  than  this,  every  individual  needs 
an  axis  for  the  universe.  Each  child  begins  very  early  to  develop  the 
instinct  for  certainty  and  to  reach  out  toward  a  final  cause,  and  he  will 
be  satisfied  with  nothing  short  of  Divinity.  Therefore  a  knowledge  of 
the  fundamental  truths  of  the  Bible,  which  is  God's  revelation  of  Himself 
as  the  Creator  of  all  things,  and  as  Love  incarnate,  is  essential  in  the 
earHest  as  well  as  in  later  periods  of  mental  development.  All  Christian 
workers  must  believe  this;  but  that  all  parts  of  the  Bible  have  an  equally 
high  culture  value  at  every  stage  of  development  no  one  can  believe 
who  has  studied  both  the  Bible  and  the  child. 

Perhaps  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  Book  alone  is  sufficient  to 
make  this  point  clear  to  some.  Paul  was  probably  not  an  adept  in 
child-study,  but  he  knew  the  Bible  and  speaks  of  it  as  containing  both 
"milk"  and  "strong  meat;"  and  the  ancient  Jewish  church  forbade 
the  reading  of  the  book  of  Ezekiel  by  any  under  thirty  years  of  age, 
thus  carrying  grading  to  an  extreme  not  dreamed  of  even  in  present-day 

6i 


62  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

psychology.  So  it  is  evident  that  the  doctrine  of  gradation  in  Biblical 
material  is  not  entirely  new. 

If,  then,  the  Bible  does  contain  the  spiritual  food  needful  for  the 
growing  child,  and  if  the  child  has  needs  differing  from  those  of  the  adult, 
the  supreme  problem  before  the  church  resolves  itself  into  this:  How 
can  the  truths  of  the  Bible  be  brought  in  contact  with  the  child  in  such 
a  way  that  they  will  be  woven  into  the  very  liber  of  his  developing 
nature  ? 

This  is  not  by  any  means  a  new  question,  but  it  has  not  yet  been 
studied  in  all  its  phases.  The  problem  is  four-sided,  or  may  be  said 
to  be  four  problems  in  one:  (i)  to  select  Biblical  material  for  each 
stage  of  the  child's  growth  which  shall  be  in  line  with  his  interests  and 
on  the  plane  of  his  experience;  (2)  to  choose  material  through  which  an 
impression  can  be  made  capable  of  immediate  realization  in  the  life  of 
the  child;  (3)  among  a  number  of  selections  which  may  all  meet  the 
foregoing  requirements,  to  give  the  preference  to  those  which  will  best 
prepare  the  mind  of  the  child  for  future  spiritual  apperceptions;  (4)  to 
make  it  certain  that  the  person  who  brings  the  Biblical  material  to  the 
child  shall  do  so  with  a  full  knowledge  of  the  basic  principles  upon  which 
the  selection  was  made. 

It  will  be  seen  that  in  the  first  and  second  of  these  points  the  child 
is  pre-eminent;  in  the  third,  the  Bible;  and  in  the  fourth,  the  individual 
who  stands  as  interpreter  between  the  Bible  and  the  child.  The  first 
has  been  under  consideration  for  a  number  of  years;  the  second  has 
received  some  attention;  the  third,  none  at  all;  and  the  fourth  has  been 
rather  a  matter  of  concern  on  the  part  of  the  teachers  themselves  than 
on  the  part  of  the  church. 

I.  Through  the  patient  and  persevering  work  of  Dr.  G.  Stanley 
Hall  and  his  colaborers  the  child  has  again  been  placed  "in  the  midst" 
where  the  greatest  Teacher  of  all  placed  him  long  ago;  and  for  more 
than  twenty  years  he  has  been  studied,  that  those  who  have  in  charge 
his  training  may  know,  not  only  how  to  keep  from  putting  stumbling- 
blocks  in  his  way,  but  how  to  make  plain  and  straight,  easy  and  natural, 
the  path  of  his  mental  and  moral  development.  One  cardinal  principle 
evolved  from  this  study  which  is  of  the  greatest  importance  to  religious 
workers  is  that  whatever  is  brought  to  the  child  in  teaching  of  any  kind 
must  come  within  his  experience  and  be  on  the  plane  of  his  normal 
interests;  within  his  experience,  because  the  unknown  can  only  be 
reached  through  the  known,  and  because  that  is  best  known  to  a  child 
of  which  he  has  experimental  knowledge.  Regarding  interest,  the  Puri- 
tan idea  was  that  an  interest  displayed  by  a  child  was  of  necessity  but 


BIBLICAL  MATERIAL  ADAPTED  TO  THE  CHILD  63 

the  outward  and  visible  sign  of  some  inward  and  invisible  phase  of  total 
depravity;  but  we  now  know  that  a  normal  interest  is  as  much  an  indi- 
cation of  need  as  is  a  normal  hunger  or  thirst.  Therefore,  when  we  are 
trying  to  ascertain  the  spiritual  needs  of  the  children,  the  first  question 
to  be  answered  is:  "What  are  the  interests  of  children  in  Biblical 
material  ?  " 

Many  studies  have  been  conducted  along  the  line  of  children's 
interests  in  what  may  be  termed  secular  matters,  but  concerning  the 
Bible  little  has  been  ascertained.  In  the  Pedagogical  Seminary,  edited 
by  the  acknowledged  leader  in  this  work,  out  of  eighty-two  studies  five 
deal  with  religious  questions  and  but  three  of  these  have  any  direct 
bearing  upon  the  subject  now  under  consideration.  Only  one,  Dr. 
Dawson's  study  of  "Children's  Interests  in  the  Bible, "^  is  entirely 
pertinent,  and  this  covers  but  four  of  the  elementary  years  in  which  it 
is  generally  expected  that  some  form  of  Biblical  instruction  will  be  given. 
The  analysis  of  the  one  thousand  cases  considered  shows  that,  while 
interest  in  the  New  Testament  predominates  at  eight  years  of  age 
(when  this  study  begins),  the  change  to  preference  for  the  Old  Testa- 
ment occurs  soon  and  increases  up  to  the  beginning  of  the  adolescent 
period. 

ReaHzing  the  necessity  for  further  knowledge,  and  for  a  study  of 
the  first  four  years  of  Bible-school  life  as  well  as  for  the  later  periods, 
Dr.  A.  B.  Van  Ormer,  through  the  Elementary  Department  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Sabbath  School  Association,  and  with  the  co-operation 
of  the  New  Jersey  Sunday  School  Association,  sent  out  a  questionnaire 
in  1 90 1  which  covered  the  elementary  years,  four  to  twelve  inclusive.* 
This  study  corroborates  Dr.  Dawson's  in  some  particulars,  but  there  is 
a  discrepancy  regarding  the  interests  of  children  at  eight  years  of  age. 
Of  the  children  from  four  to  eight,  53  per  cent,  of  the  boys  and  59  per 
cent,  of  the  girls  expressed  a  preference  for  Old-Testament  stories.  Of 
those  from  eight  to  twelve,  65  per  cent,  of  the  boys  and  59  per  cent,  of 
the  girls  preferred  the  Old  Testament;  and  what  makes  these  percent- 
ages the  more  significant  is  that  the  study  was  made  when,  for  those 
who  had  been  in  the  Bible  school  that  length  of  time,  the  lessons  for 
the  preceding  eighteen  months  had  been  taken  from  the  New  Testa- 
ment. 

Both  the  conclusions  of  Dr.  Dawson  and  those  of  Dr.  Van  Ormer 
agree  in  general  with  what  has  been  learned  of  children's  interest  in 
stories  drawn  from  other  sources  than  the  Bible;  but  even  with  this 

'Pedagogical  Seminary,  July,  iqoo,  pp.    151-178. 
'  The  International  Evangel,  December,  1902,  p.  571. 


64  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

reinforcement,  and  valuable  and  suggestive  as  these  studies  are,  no  one 
will  be  ready  to  assert  that  they  furnish  sufficient  data  on  vi^hich  to  base 
so  important  a  matter  as  the  determination  of  the  order  in  which  Scrip- 
tural truths  shall  be  presented  to  children.  It  is  earnestly  to  be  desired 
that  further  studies  shall  be  made  along  this  line,  for  what  has  been 
done  has  served  to  bring  about  a  larger  agreement  among  religious 
workers  regarding  principles,  though  the  various  courses  of  lessons 
which  have  been  prepared  upon  a  topical  basis,  and  pubHshed  either 
as  outline  suggestions  or  as  text-books,  show  the  widest  diversity  in 
material  selected. 

2.  Biblical  material  to  have  the  highest  culture  value  must  do  more 
than  meet  the  interest  and  be  within  the  experience  of  the  child.  It 
must  be  of  such  a  nature  that  it  may  immediately  enter  into  the  life, 
working  out  into  a  new  experience,  creating  a  new  interest  the  symptom 
of  a  new  need,  and  lifting  the  nature  Godward;  this  to  be  accomplished, 
of  course,  by  the  force  of  the  story  itself,  and  not  by  any  adventitious 
moral  or  application.  If  impression  does  not  lead  out  into  expression, 
the  impression  becomes  valueless  and  may  do  actual  harm;  and  yet 
material  is  often  selected  for  children  which  is  incapable  of  realization 
in  the  life  of  any  but  an  adult. 

3.  Lange  quotes  Lazarus  as  saying:  "Clearness  in  thinking  all 
the  way  up  to  the  highest  region  of  concepts  is  dependent  on  the  dis- 
tinctness of  the  underlying  sense-perceptions;"  and  adds:  "How  incom- 
parably important  then  are  the  concrete  ideas  acquired  in  early  youth 
for  the  intellectual  life  of  man."^  If  this  is  true  regarding  mental 
growth,  it  is  much  more  true  of  things  spiritual.  In  Biblical  material 
there  is  a  large  amount  that  is  abstract  in  statement  and  spiritual  in 
quality,  and  these  can  be  comprehended  only  through  the  concrete  and 
natural  in  which  some  similar  idea  exists.  We  all  understand  that  the 
child  cannot  assimilate  abstract  truth,  but  must  have  everything  pre- 
sented in  concrete  form;  and  we  know  that  both  his  interests  and  his 
experiences  are  largely  concerned  with  the  phenomena  of  nature  which 
he  sees  in  the  world  about  him,  and  that  through  these  he  may  learn 
many  valuable  truths  to  which  his  responsive  nature  can  give  immediate 
expression;  but  is  there  any  reason  why  both  sense-perceptions  and 
concrete  ideas  should  not  be  made  also  to  prepare  the  way  definitely 
for  large  spiritual  truths  ? 

A  study  of  existing  courses  of  lessons  for  children  does  not  give 
evidence  that  the  leaders  in  the  movement  for  a  wiser  selection  have 
taken  a  telescopic  view  of  the  whole  field  in  order  to  choose  among 

'  Lange,    Apperception:   A  Monograph  on  Psychology  and  Pedagogy,  p.  156. 


BIBLICAL  MATERIAL  ADAPTED  TO  THE  CHILD  65 

many  possible  lessons  the  ones  which  will  have  the  greatest  future  as 
well  as  present  value.  The  law  is  "first  that  which  is  natural  and  then 
that  which  is  spiritual."  The  final  realization  of  the  spiritual  is  our  aim 
from  the  beginning,  but  we  seem  to  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  any  given 
spiritual  truth  must  be  comprehended  through  the  natural  which  is 
akin  to  it. 

To  illustrate  this,  consider  the  numerous  references  in  the  Bible  to 
sheep,  lambs,  flocks,  and  shepherds.  There  are  nearly  one  hundred 
and  fifty  verses  in  which  these  words  are  used  in  a  symbolic  way  to 
represent  some  phase  of  the  relationship  which  does  or  should  exist 
between  God  and  His  people.  Some  of  these  passages,  notably  the 
twenty-third  Psalm,  certain  verses  in  Isaiah,  and  the  tenth  chapter  of 
John,  are  among  the  most  spiritually  helpful  utterances  of  Holy  Writ. 
But  for  a  perfect  understanding  of  all  such  references  not  only  some 
knowledge  of  sheep  and  shepherd  life  is  necessary,  but  knowledge  of 
the  life  of  an  oriental  sheep  under  the  care  of  an  oriental  shepherd.  One 
can  easily  see  how  a  series  of  lessons  could  be  prepared  on  this  subject 
which,  while  pure  and  simple — though  Biblical — nature  lessons,  arousing 
intense  interest  and  suggesting  ideals  of  tender  care  for  the  dependent, 
of  unselfishness  and  bravery,  would  at  the  same  time  lay  broad  founda- 
tions for  an  understanding  of  the  deep  things  of  God  at  a  later  period. 

4.  It  must  be  remembered  that  after  Bibhcal  material  has  been 
selected,  the  contact  has  not  yet  been  made  between  that  material  and 
the  child.  And  here  we  find  the  critical  point  in  our  problem;  for  it  is 
possible  to  have  the  most  wisely  selected  material  so  abused  in  the  pre- 
sentation that  it  will  utterly  fail  to  accomplish  for  the  child  any  of  the 
purposes  for  which  it  was  chosen.  Take,  for  instance,  the  story  of 
David  and  Goliath,  in  which  the  youth  of  David,  the  shng,  the  intense 
action,  and  the  climax  appeal  strongly  to  children.  The  untrained 
teacher,  or  one  who  thinks  only  of  the  children's  interest,  might  so 
present  the  story  that  the  chief  impression  would  be  of  a  fight  in  which 
the  smaller  and  weaker  conquered,  and  the  picture  left  with  the  child 
that  of  the  youthful  victor  holding  aloft  the  gory  head  of  his  late  antago- 
nist. Told  in  such  a  way  the  story  would  have  no  more  religious  value 
than  the  story  of  Jack  the  Giant  Killer. 

But  imagine  the  same  story  told  by  a  teacher  who  has  in  mind,  not 
only  the  immediate  purpose  of  the  narration,  but  the  future  spiritual 
truth  for  which  it  is  to  prepare  the  way.  Such  a  teacher  will  know  that 
neither  David  nor  Goliath  is  the  prominent  character  in  that  chapter. 
It  is  the  living  God,  the  God  of  the  armies  of  Israel,  the  God  who 
enabled  his  servant  the  young  shepherd  to  kill  the  lion  and  the  bear 


66  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

and  in  whose  strength  the  lad  went  confidently  to  battle  with  the  enemy. 
The  story  will  be  so  presented  that  the  children  will  see  in  it  the  triumph 
of  right  because  God  is  for  the  right,  will  gain  from  it  new  ideals  of  brav- 
ery, and  will  also  have  a  foundation  for  a  later  apprehension  of  God  as 
their  Helper  when,  through  severe  temptation,  they  are  called  to  fight 
battles  with  the  unseen  enem.y  of  souls. 

It  is  evident  that  all  labor  will  be  vain  unless  an  intelligent  presen- 
tation of  chosen  material  can  be  secured;  and  this  phase  of  the  problem, 
realized  as  important  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  for  some  time,  is  now 
being  rapidly  pushed  to  the  forefront.  Of  course,  the  vast  majority 
of  those  who  stand  as  interpreters  of  Biblical  material  for  the  child  are 
teachers  in  the  Bible  schools,  and  so  far  the  only  opportunities  for  train- 
ing offered  to  these  teachers,  which  do  not  cost  so  much  as  to  be  practi- 
cally out  of  their  reach,  are  teacher- training  courses,  graded  unions, 
schools  of  methods,  and  institutes;  and  these  have  sprung  from  their 
own  ranks  and  in  response  to  their  own  demand  for  help — a  fact  greatly 
to  the  credit  of  the  voluntary  teaching  force  of  the  country. 

If  a  person  inclined  toward  religious  work  desires  to  become  a  minis- 
ter, missionary,  trained  nurse,  or  deaconess,  there  are  schools  for  tech- 
nical training  supported  by  the  various  churches  in  which  the  worker 
may  be  fitted  for  his  task.  But  if  one  wishes  to  become  a  Bible-school 
teacher,  no  preparatory  school  is  provided  by  any  church,  in  spite  of 
the  fact  that  in  the  Bible  school  of  this  generation  95  per  cent,  of  the 
preachers,  85  per  cent,  of  the  church  members,  and  95  per  cent,  of  the 
church  workers  of  the  next  generation  are  being  trained.  It  is  quite 
probable  that  if  the  apostle  James  were  writing  a  general  letter  to  the 
churches  of  today,  either  upon  the  subject  of  their  own  perpetuation  or 
regarding  their  care  for  the  lambs  of  the  flock,  he  would  emphatically 
say  of  present  conditions:  "My  brethren,  these  things  ought  not  so  to 
be." 

The  problem  presented  by  the  endeavor  to  bring  the  Bible  to  the 
child  is  not  a  simple  one.  To  its  solution  must  be  brought  both  the 
learning  of  the  theorist  and  the  experience  of  the  practical  teacher,  if  it 
is  ever  to  be  effectively  solved.  Each  of  its  phases  is  important,  and  to 
each  must  be  given  its  proportionate  attention;  or  when  the  work  is 
analyzed  by  the  Master,  the  workers  will  hear  Him  saying:  "These 
ought  ye  to  have  done  and  not  to  have  left  the  other  undone." 


THE  CONTACT  OF  BIBLICAL  MATERIAL  WITH 
ADOLESCENT  LIFE 

PROFESSOR  GEORGE  E.  DAWSON,  Ph.D., 

THE  HARTFORD   SCHOOL  OF   RELIGIOUS   PEDAGOGY,   HARTFORD,   CONNECTICUT 

The  contact  of  Biblical  material  with  adolescent  life  is  but  a  part  of 
the  larger  problem  with  which  all  education  has  to  do.  This  larger 
problem  is,  how  to  get  human  beings  adjusted  to  the  things  and  forces 
that  promote  sane  and  efficient  living.  The  vital  adjustment  of  men's 
lives  to  the  world  they  live  in  is  coming  more  and  more  to  be  recognized 
as  the  central  aim  of  human  effort  in  every  sphere  of  wisely  directed 
activity.  This,  indeed,  is  the  intrinsic  meaning  of  civilization.  Nothing 
else  can  make  human  history  intelligible.  It  is  everywhere  implicit  in 
biological  development;  it  has  been  erected  into  conscious  purpose  by 
all  the  great  educators  of  mankind;  it  was  declared  in  the  words  of  Him 
who  said:  "I  am  come  that  they  might  have  life,  and  that  they  might 
have  it  more  abundantly."  Let  this  be  our  point  of  view,  therefore,  in 
seeking  to  discover  the  contact  between  the  Bible  and  adolescent  life. 

The  adjustment  of  the  adolescent  to  conditions  that  shall  make  his 
life  more  complete  involves  two  things:  (i)  the  discovery  of  his  needs, 
and  (2)  the  discovery  and  application  of  means  adequate  to  meet  these 
needs.  An  understanding  of  the  specific  needs  of  adolescence  is  there- 
fore the  first  step  in  getting  adolescent  Hfe  adjusted  to  the  Bible.  It 
conditions  absolutely  the  choice  and  use  of  Biblical  material.  Before 
a  physician  can  wisely  select  the  means  and  methods  of  treating  the 
body,  he  must  be  able  to  diagnose  the  needs  of  the  body.  Before  an 
educator  can  wisely  select  the  means  and  methods  of  treating  the  mind, 
he  must  know  the  needs  of  the  life  involved  in  the  process  of  mental 
training.  The  neglect  of  this  important  principle  has  led  to  all  sorts 
of  quackery,  both  in  medicine  and  in  education.  The  first  problem 
that  confronts  the  religious  teacher,  therefore,  is  not:  "Given  the  Bible, 
or  parts  of  the  Bible,  how  may  I  get  the  life  of  the  adolescent  adjusted 
to  it?"  The  problem  is  rather:  "Given  certain  clearly  ascertained 
needs  of  adolescent  life,  how  may  I  select  and  use  Biblical  material  in 
meeting  these  needs  ?"  That  is  to  say,  the  contact  between  the  material 
of  the  Bible  and  adolescent  life  is  not  effectively  established  by  approach- 
ing the  pupil  through  the  Bible,  but  rather  by  approaching  the  Bible 
through  the  pupil.  This  is  no  more  than  to  say  that  the  Bible  was 
made  for  man,  and  not  man  for  the  Bible.     Here,  as  in  medicine  and 

67 


68  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

general  education,  the  point  of  view  will  determine  whether  religious 
education  shall  be  really  a  vital  process  or  mere  quackery. 

We  have,  then,  to  consider  first  the  needs  of  adolescent  life.  These 
needs  may  be  grouped  under  three  general  heads : 

1.  The  needs  involved  in  self-adjustment.  By  this  is  meant  adjust- 
ment to  physiological  and  psychological  laws  operating  in  the  individual 
life.  The  first  need  of  the  human  soul  is  that  it  shall  be  put  in  con- 
scious possession  of  its  own  resources.  These  resources  involve  self- 
knowledge  and  self-control.  The  individual  must  know  himself,  and 
be  able  to  control  the  forces  resident  in  his  own  being,  whether  of  good 
or  evil,  if  he  is  to  survive  in  the  struggle  for  existence.  This  need  is 
especially  great  in  adolescence.  Adolescence  is  the  birth-time  of  a 
larger  self.  Radical  organic  changes  are  taking  place.  New  areas  of 
the  brain,  bearing  the  stored-up  experiences  of  ancestral  ages,  are 
coming  into  functional  relationship  with  the  rest  of  the  nervous  system. 
Feelings,  ideas,  ambitions,  hopes,  fears,  appetites,  passions — all  more 
or  less  strange  and  insistent — throng  the  consciousness.  Here  is  where 
the  creative  intellect  emerges  from  the  chaos  of  sense-impressions  and 
attempts  to  shape  for  itself  an  orderly  world  of  thought.  Here  is  where 
feelings  become  more  complex  and  conflicting,  running  the  gamut  of 
higher  and  more  exquisite  pleasures,  or  of  more  subtle  and  excruciating 
pains.  Here  is  where  self-conscious,  self-directing  personality  begins 
to  discern  its  duties  and  assert  its  rights.  All  students  of  adolescence 
agree  that  at  this  time  are  made  the  beginnings  of  the  greatest  successes 
or  failures.  During  the  adolescent  years  have  poets,  artists,  philoso- 
phers, warriors,  and  priests  discovered  their  gifts  and  their  missions. 
During  these  years  also  have  criminals  and  the  morally  weak  and 
vicious  often  entered  upon  their  careers  of  abandonment  to  the  sins 
whose  wages  is  death. 

At  such  a  time,  adjustment  to  the  physiological  and  psychological 
laws  of  one's  life,  through  self-knowledge  and  self-control,  is  indispen- 
sable to  sanity  of  body  and  soul.  All  education  should  aim  to  insure 
this  adjustment.  Religious  education,  while  it  may  not  attempt  to 
cover  the  entire  field  of  human  needs,  must  nevertheless  be  sufhciently 
broad  in  its  outlook  and  its  choice  of  means  and  methods  to  contribute 
definitely  and  constantly  to  such  an  adjustment.  If  it  does  not  do  this 
it  is  a  failure.  Like  all  other  agencies  dedicated  to  the  amelioration  of 
human  life,  rehgious  education  is  to  be  judged,  in  the  last  analysis, 
by  the  extent  to  which  it  helps  men  to  get  adjusted  to  those  laws  of  body 
and  mind  upon  which  the  sanity  and  efficiency  of  life  depend. 

2.  The  needs  involved  in  social  adjustment.     This  means  the  adjust- 


BIBLICAL  MATERIAL  ADAPTED  TO  ADOLESCENTS        69 

ment  of  one's  life  to  that  of  others  — as  parents,  brothers,  and  sisters,  the 
opposite  sex,  and  men  and  women  in  general.  That  is  to  say,  it  implies 
the  relationships  of  the  home,  of  men  and  women,  of  business,  of  politics, 
and  of  the  more  general  types  of  social  life.  Social  adjustment,  like 
self-adjustment,  is  necessary  for  the  preservation  of  the  individual.  It 
is  also,  in  a  more  direct  way,  necessary  for  the  preservation  of  society. 
Complete  self-realization  depends  upon  social  co-operation;  while, 
without  such  social  co-operation,  civilization  could  not  exist.  Next 
to  the  need  of  self-adjustment,  therefore,  the  most  important  need  in  the 
economy  of  human  life  is  the  adaptation  of  the  individual  to  his  fellows. 

Especially  important  is  this  adaptation  for  the  adolescent.  All  that 
has  been  said  about  the  awakening  of  feelings,  ideas  and  ambitions,  as 
affecting  the  self,  applies  with  equal  force  to  the  feelings,  ideas,  and 
conduct  that  affect  others.  This  is  especially  true  in  the  relations  of 
the  sexes,  and  in  business  and  political  relationships.  There  is  no  time 
of  life  when  the  ideas,  feelings,  and  conduct  that  affect  the  life  of  sex 
should  receive  such  wise  and  tactful  treatment.  Most  of  the  wrong 
opinions  and  ideals  reciprocally  held  by  men  and  women  concerning 
each  other  are  due  to  misinformation,  or  no  information  at  all,  at  a  time 
when  such  opinions  and  ideals  are  being  formed.  So,  too,  most  of  the 
perversions  of  feeling  which  find  objective  expression  in  misconduct,  or 
expend  themselves  subjectively  in  disorganizing  the  emotional  life,  may 
be  traced  to  the  ignorance  or  neglect  of  those  responsible  for  adolescent 
education.  As  regards  business  and  political  relationships,  the  impor- 
tance of  adolescent  adjustment,  at  least  in  the  later  years  of  that  period, 
is  also  great.  At  the  time  when  young  men  are  anxiously  thinking  of 
their  economic  and  political  relations  to  society,  it  is  clear  that  right 
opinions  and  ideals  should  be  obtained  from  some  source. 

In  all  these  social  relationships  the  adjustment  of  the  adolescent  to 
his  fellows  involves  fulness  of  knowledge  and  correct  ideals.  These 
things  education  must  supply  to  adolescent  life,  and  rehgious  education 
should  contribute  definitely  to  this  end.  No  place  is  more  appropriate 
than  the  young  people's  Bible  classes  for  imparting  sound  knowledge 
and  establishing  correct  ideals  concerning  the  relationships  of  men  and 
women,  and  the  business  and  political  relationships  of  men  in  general. 
If  Bible  classes  had  occupied  themselves  more  with  such  themes  in  the 
past,  the  state  of  social  morality  would  be  better  than  it  is  at  present, 
and  much  of  the  misunderstanding  and  estrangement  between  laboring 
men  and  their  employers  would  have  been  prevented. 

3.  The  needs  involved  in  religious  adjustment.  By  this  is  meant 
not  only  adjustment  of  the  life  to  the  generally  accepted  beliefs  and 


70  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

institutions  of  the  Christian  rehgion.  It  means  also  a  spiritual  adjust- 
ment to  the  things  and  forces  of  nature,  and  to  men  and  their  laws. 
One  of  the  greatest  and  most  urgent  tasks  of  religious  education  is  to 
get  the  present  generation  of  children  to  look  upon  so-called  natural 
laws  as  modes  of  the  divine  Will,  and,  with  religious  zeal,  to  reverence 
and  obey  them,  as  their  fathers  have  not  done.  In  short,  by  rehgious 
adjustment  is  meant  a  religious  attitude  toward  all  the  surroundings 
and  activities  of  life  whose  impact  upon  the  soul  must  modify  it  for 
better  or  for  worse. 

The  importance  for  adolescent  life  of  religious  adjustment  thus 
conceived  is  manifestly  great.  Every  instinct  of  self-preservation 
demands  it.  Every  instinct  looking  toward  the  preservation  of  the 
species  demands  it.  Every  ideal  and  ambition,  every  yearning  for 
larger  self-expression,  every  quest  for  the  inner  meaning  and  content 
of  life,  demands  it.  It  is  therefore  of  prime  necessity  that  whatever 
else  religious  education  may  do,  or  may  not  do,  this  adjustment  of  the 
adolescent  life  religiously  should  be  effected. 

Having  thus  determined  in  outline  the  needs  of  adolescent  life, 
we  have  next  to  determine  how  we  may  select  and  use  the  material 
of  the  Bible  to  supply  these  needs.  Two  principles  of  selection  may  be 
adopted.  In  the  first  place,  with  the  analysis  of  adolescent  needs  to 
guide  us,  we  may  choose  such  Biblical  material  as  enlightened  judg- 
ment suggests.  Where,  then,  shall  we  look  for  this  material  ?  Clearly, 
it  seems  to  me,  for  the  most  part  in  the  New  Testament,  and,  within  the 
New  Testament,  mainly  in  the  four  gospels.  Here  we  have  presented 
the  character  and  teachings  of  Christ.  Here  we  find  just  the  personality 
and  regimen  of  conduct  that  will  best  supply  the  ideal  and  method  of 
right  Hving.  Whether  considered  rehgiously  or  scientifically,  there  can 
be  no  question  but  that  Christ  is  the  most  perfect  model  of  a  complete 
life,  and  His  gospel  the  most  expHcit  exposition  of  the  principles  of  human 
welfare  that  have  been  given  to  men.  In  him  the  process  of  self-adjust- 
ment is  complete.  Physiologically  and  psychologically,  we  may  believe 
that  He  is  in  harmony  with  the  forces  of  the  universe  that  make  for  the 
larger  life  of  which  He  came  to  put  mankind  in  possession.  No  better 
standard  of  self-adjustment,  therefore,  and  the  conditions  upon  which 
self-adjustment  depends,  could  be  provided  for  adolescence,  than  the 
character  and  teachings  of  Christ. 

The  same  may  be  said  in  regard  to  the  adaptation  of  adolescents  to 
their  fellows.  Christ  was  to  all  men  what  an  enlightened  conception 
of  human  society  requires  that  men  in  general  shall  be  to  one  another 
before  civilization  is  put  upon  an  enduring  basis.     He  defined  the  normal 


BIBLICAL  MATERIAL  ADAPTED  TO  ADOLESCENTS        71 

relations  of  men  and  women.  He  stated  the  conditions  upon  which 
business,  pohtical,  and  social  relationships  must  be  based.  He  outlined, 
in  short,  the  principles  of  a  social  organization  adapted  in  aim  and 
method  for  the  most  complete  realization  of  the  happiness  and  efficiency 
of  its  members. 

As  to  the  religious  adjustment  of  adolescence,  it  is  certain  that 
Christ  and  His  teachings,  as  set  forth  in  the  four  gospels,  yield  material 
that  is  all-sufficient.  Here  have  centered  Christian  faith  and  hope  for 
nineteen  hundred  years.  Here  are  rooted  all  customs  and  institutions 
that  deserve  the  name  of  Christian.  Here  is  revealed  most  completely 
the  God  we  worship.  Here  have  life  and  immortality  come  to  light. 
Here  are  made  manifest  the  divine  content  of  human  life,  and  the  spirit 
of  goodness  and  truth  that  was  in  the  world  and  the  world  knew  it  not. 
In  no  better  way  can  the  adolescent  mind  get  its  religious  bearings  than 
through  long  and  close  contact  with  these  four  gospels  whose  role  in 
Christian  civilization  has  been  so  great. 

But,  while  this  selection  of  Biblical  material  may  seem  adapted  to 
the  needs  of  adolescence,  there  is  another,  and  surer,  way  of  determining 
whether  it  is  really  so  adapted.  We  may  test  it  by  the  standard  of 
adolescent  preference  or  interest.  Now,  all  the  studies  that  have  been 
made  of  children's  natural  interests,  in  literature,  history,  and  the  Bible 
itself,  bring  to  light  the  fact  that  the  adolescent  mind  inclines  to  types  of 
feeling,  thought,  ideals,  and  character  such  as  the  New  Testament,  and 
more  especially  the  four  gospels,  set  forth.  Such  studies  indicate,  in 
short,  that  the  four  gospels  have  a  distinctive  adolescent  interest,  and 
that  the  personality  of  Christ  has  also  a  distinctive  adolescent  interest. 
The  choice  of  Biblical  material  already  suggested  is  thus  confirmed  by 
the  preferences,  or  interests,  of  the  adolescents  themselves.  In  view 
of  the  emphasis  which  current  educational  theory  is  placing  upon  the 
natural  interests  of  children,  we  may  be  doubly  sure  of  the  wisdom  of 
our  choice. 

My  conclusion  is,  therefore,  that  the  contact  between  the  material 
of  the  Bible  and  adolescent  Hfe  is  established  (i)  through  a  knowledge 
of  definitely  ascertained  adolescent  needs,  and  (2)  through  approaching 
the  Bible  in  the  light  of  these  needs  and  their  associated  interests,  and 
selecting  the  material  accordingly.  This  material  we  have  found  to  be, 
in  general,  the  character  and  teachings  of  Christ.  Our  conclusion 
should  not  be  understood  to  affirm  that  other  parts  of  the  Bible  are  to 
be  ignored  in  adolescent  teaching.  It  affirms  merely  that  the  Bible 
should  be  given  to  adolescents  through  the  personahty  and  teachings 
of  Christ  as  the  elements  of  central  interest. 


72  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

It  remains  to  consider  the  method  of  selecting  and  organizing  the 
material  derived  from  Christ's  Hfe  and  teachings.  Here  let  us  recall 
that  we  are  approaching  the  Bible  through  the  human  soul,  and  not  the 
human  soul  through  the  Bible.  Our  topics  for  study  therefore  will  not 
be  primarily  Biblical  topics,  but  psychological  topics.  We  are  not 
primarily  concerned  with  who  wrote  the  various  books  of  the  Bible,  or 
when  they  were  written ;  nor  with  the  exegesis  of  special  texts ;  nor  with 
Bibhcal  geography  or  history;  nor  indeed  with  Christ's  birth,  baptism, 
temptation.  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  miracles,  parables  and  the  like. 
All  these  things  are  valuable  as  subsidiary  aids  to  our  purpose,  to  be 
sure.  But  we  shall  not  draw  our  lesson  topics  from  them.  We  shall 
draw  them  rather  from  the  lives  of  the  pupils  we  seek  to  affect.  For 
does  not  the  topic  of  instruction  take  form  in  a  teacher's  mind  according 
to  the  direction  of  his  primary  intent  ?  And  is  not  this  intent  determined 
by  what  concerns  him  more— the  life  he  is  influencing  or  the  thing  he  is 
teaching?  This  was  Christ's  method,  as  it  has  been  the  method  of 
every  great  teacher  who  has  understood  the  final  aim  of  education. 

To  illustrate  what  is  meant  by  a  lesson  topic  growing  out  of  the  life 
of  the  pupil:  Let  us  take,  "The  Relation  between  Physical  Hygiene 
and  Righteousness."  Here  we  should  select  our  Biblical  material 
mainly  from  the  character  and  conduct  of  Christ,  and  the  program  of 
living  He  enjoined  upon  others.  Thus  we  would  try  to  understand  the 
physical  Christ,  the  miracles  of  physical  healing  He  wrought,  all  that 
He  said  bearing  directly  or  indirectly  upon  physical  salvation.  We 
might  also  get  Paul's  opinions  upon  the  relations  between  body  and 
spirit,  as  well  as  the  views  of  Old  Testament  writers.  Or,  again,  let 
us  take  the  topic,  "The  Relationship  of  the  Intellect  to  Righteousness." 
Here  we  would  study  Christ  as  an  intellectual  man — His  attitude 
toward  truth.  His  life  and  works  as  a  revelation  of  truth,  His  teachings 
in  regard  to  human  adjustment  to  the  universe  of  fact.  In  all  such 
topics  the  material  would  be  chosen,  organized,  and  applied  with 
reference  to  the  particular  aspect  of  life  we  desire  to  affect. 

There  are  certain  distinct  advantages  in  this  method  of  selecting  and 
using  Biblical  material.  In  the  first  place,  if  a  series  of  topics  is  care- 
fully arranged,  so  as  to  give  a  unified  conception  of  human  life  and  its 
possible  successes  or  failures,  then  will  there  be  secured  in  the  pupil's 
mind  a  unified  conception  of  the  Biblical  material.  Such  material  will 
have  coherence,  and  not  be  merely  a  chaos  of  isolated  facts.  In  other 
words,  if  we  approach  the  Bible  from  a  psychological  point  of  view,  its 
material  will  be  readily  unified  and  comprehended  by  the  pupil.  The 
Bible,  indeed,  is  a  psychological  unit.     In  no  other  sense  is  it  a  unit  at 


BIBLICAL  MATERIAL  ADAPTED  TO  ADOLESCENTS        73 

all.  We  cannot  study  the  character  of  Christ  or  His  teachings  in  the 
four  gospels,  merely  as  Bible  topics,  such  as  parables,  miracles,  dis- 
courses, or  episodes,  and  readily  discover  unity  in  them.  It  requires 
a  large  unifying  principle  to  bind  together  any  one  of  the  four  gospels, 
or  all  of  them,  and  such  a  principle  does  not  exist  in  external  facts.  It 
is  found  only  in  the  human  soul  which,  for  the  mind  of  men,  is  the  final 
standard  of  unity.  I  submit  that  this  explains  why  BibHcal  knowledge 
is  so  fragmentary  and  chaotic  in  the  average  mind;  why,  with  all  our 
recent  attention  to  Bible  study,  young  people,  as  we  are  told,  have  little 
comprehensive  knowledge  of  the  Bible.  They  have  been  given  BibHcal 
facts  selected  on  a  principle  external  to  their  own  lives,  and  having  for 
them  no  unifying  power. 

Again,  the  method  of  selecting  and  using  Biblical  material  here 
suggested  brings  the  adolescent  into  definite  and  tangible  relationship 
with  Christ  and  his  teachings.  If  Christ  is  studied  with  reference  to  a 
particular  adolescent  need,  felt  as  such,  He  takes  on  a  new  interest  and 
meaning.  Christian  life  is  adjusted  to  Christ  in  specific,  definite 
qualities  of  belief,  impulse,  and  conduct,  or  not  at  all.  Religious  educa- 
tion ought  to  have  done  with  that  vague  and  general  acceptance  of  Christ, 
of  which  crude  evangelistic  efforts  make  so  much.  Such  a  vague 
emotional  acceptance  is  condemned  by  any  intelligent  analysis  of  the 
human  mind.  It  can  result  in  nothing  but  an  illusion  of  salvation  not 
at  all  superior,  in  the  psychical  order,  to  the  illusion  of  physical  health 
produced  by  thaumaturgy,  in  the  physical  order.  This  vague,  unintelli- 
gent, and  unintelligible  adjustment  to  Christ  that  religious  mysticism 
has  cultivated  will,  when  men  know  better,  be  looked  back  upon  as  one 
of  the  greatest  impediments  that  human  ignorance  and  credulity  have 
ever  placed  in  the  way  of  actual  Christlikeness.  There  is  no  doing 
anything  with  a  man  or  woman  whose  conception  of  salvation  is  a  matter 
of  thrills  and  paroxysms,  or  of  unthinking  faith  that  serves  as  an  anodyne 
for  the  pains  of  unrighteous  living,  so  long  as  they  hold  such  a  view. 
There  may  be  no  efficient  realization  of  Christ's  character  in  their  lives. 
Degeneracy  may  undermine  their  health,  blunt  their  intelligence,  and 
pervert  their  emotions;  yet  they  think  they  are  saved.  This  is  the 
tragedy  of  souls.  It  can  never  be  ended  until  men  are  brought  into  an 
adjustment  with  Christ  that  enables  them  to  feel  His  impulses,  think  His 
thoughts,  and  do  His  deeds.  I  know  of  no  surer  way  of  effecting  such 
an  adjustment  than  by  establishing  a  definite  contact  between  specific 
quaHties  of  Christ's  life  and  correspondingly  specific  qualities  of  human 
life. 

Finally  this  method  involves  the  use  of  a  new  type  of  material  sup- 


74  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

plementary  to  Bible  study ;  namely,  the  facts  and  principles  derived  from 
the  human  sciences.  We  have  long  been  used  to  geographical,  histori- 
cal, Hterary,  and  other  types  of  material  drawn  from  general  culture  or 
practical  experience.  But  thus  far  little  use  has  been  made  of  modern 
studies  of  the  human  soul  and  of  life  in  general.  That  is  to  say,  the 
biological  sciences  have  made  scarcely  any  impression  at  all  upon 
religious  education.  Now,  it  is  well  known  that  these  sciences  are 
reconstructing  the  ideals  and  programs  of  secular  education.  Will  it 
require  another  century  of  groping  and  blundering  for  religious  educa- 
tors to  discover  what  secular  educators  have  already  discovered,  and 
are  applying  to  practical  ends  ? 

The  central  purpose  of  this  paper  has  been  to  suggest  that  the  con- 
tact of  Biblical  material  with  adolescent  life  involves  mainly  an  approach 
to  the  Bible  through  the  needs  of  the  human  soul.  In  other  words,  the 
selection  and  use  of  Biblical  material  must  proceed  from  a  psychological 
point  of  view,  rather  than  from  a  Biblical  point  of  view.  I  submit  that 
the  interest  of  religious  workers  is,  for  the  most  part,  too  bibliocentric. 
There  is  a  more  general  attempt  to  adjust  human  beings  to  particular 
Biblical  truths,  or,  to  be  more  exact,  particular  interpretations  of  the 
Bible,  than  to  adjust  Biblical  truths  to  well-ascertained  human  needs. 
There  is  vastly  more  zeal  and  enthusiasm  among  religious  teachers  for 
Bible-study  than  for  the  study  of  human  life,  for  which  the  Bible  was 
given.  We  have  not,  indeed,  risen  to  the  point  of  view  at  all  where  men 
shall  beheve  that  it  is  a  religious  duty  to  know  to  some  extent  at  least, 
what  the  human  life  is  before  they  lay  their  holy,  or  unholy,  hands  upon 
it.  All  this  must  change.  The  very  existence  of  current  rehgious 
institutions  depends  upon  whether  or  not  they  will  get  themselves 
adjusted  to  the  facts  and  principles  of  modern  science  as  they  affect 
the  life  of  man.  Not  only  is  the  Sunday  school  on  trial  as  never  before. 
The  same  is  true  of  the  church  itself.  Mene,  mene,  lekel,  upharsin  is 
written  upon  the  walls  of  many  a  Sunday-school  class-room,  and  of 
many  a  church,  for  anyone  to  read  who  has  the  power  to  see  things  as 
they  are,  and  as  they  ought  to  be.  Other  institutions  are  rapidly  grow- 
ing up  to  discharge  the  functions  necessary  for  human  salvation  which 
the  Sunday  school  and  the  church  have  failed  to  discharge.  For  we 
may  be  assured  that  the  Eternal  God  does  not  care  what  set  of  men,  or 
what  institutions,  do  His  work,  providing  His  work  be  done. 


THE  CO-ORDINATION  OF  THE  BIBLE  WITH  OTHER 
SUBJECTS  OF  STUDY 

PRESIDENT  WILLIAM  H.  P.  FAUNCE,  D.D., 

BROWN  XmrVERSITY,   PROVIDENCE,   RHODE  ISLAND 

When  a  new  idea  enters  the  mind,  its  power  to  work  permanent 
changes  in  character  and  life  depends  chiefly  on  the  intimacy  of  its  rela- 
tions to  ideas  already  there.  If  it  comes  as  a  stranger  and  remains 
unrelated  and  alien,  it  is  powerless  to  mold  life,  and  it  either  soon  van- 
ishes or  remains  as  a  foreign  substance  constituting  an  impediment  and 
danger.  When  a  meteorite  falls  to  the  earth,  it  forms  no  relation  to 
anything  here.  It  can  only  be  labeled  and  placed  in  a  museum.  When 
a  seed  falls  into  the  same  soil,  it  begins  to  put  forth  tentacles,  to  reach 
upward  and  downward,  to  absorb  and  assimilate,  and  makes  itself  a 
part  of  its  environment.  The  new  becomes  efficient  only  by  establishing 
relations  with  the  old. 

The  same  thing  is  true  in  the  case  of  any  system  of  ideas  such  as  is 
presented  in  a  definite  course  of  study.  The  best  students  of  education 
have  been  largely  occupied  in  recent  years  with  the  problem  of  the 
correlation  of  studies.  They  are  agreed  that  the  study  of  any  subject 
which  is  regarded  as  an  end  in  itself,  which  is  isolated  from  the  rest  of 
the  pupil's  life,  involves  much  waste  of  time.  The  injury  done  by  the 
old  memory  drill  was  not  that  it  exercised  the  memory,  but  that  it 
exercised  nothing  else.  To  spend  years  in  memorizing  isolated  facts  and 
dates  regarding  royal  families  or  famous  battles  is  not  to  study  history, 
and  is  devoid  of  any  result.  The  isolated  data  were  inserted  in  the  mind 
as  dead  branches  thrust  into  the  boughs  of  a  living  tree,  soon  to  drop 
out  again.  If  a  student  acquires  by  patient  drill  a  foreign  language,  and 
then  fails  to  relate  it  by  daily  use  to  his  daily  occupation,  it  speedily 
slips  from  him  as  a  temporary  attachment.  Facts  are  useless  except 
as  we  perceive  their  relations.  It  is  their  relations'  that  constitute  their 
value. 

Worse  yet,  the  isolation  of  any  study  leads  inevitably  to  a  divided 
personality  in  the  student.  To  produce  strong  character  we  must  have 
a  unified  harmonious  personality.  Mind  is  not  a  mere  aggregation  of 
insights  or  knowledges,  and  character  is  never  built  up  by  the  agglutina- 
tive method.  A  superintendent  of  schools  in  a  western  city  has  said 
that  he  has  found  many  pupils  who  have  never  connected  in  their  own 
minds  the  Mississippi  River  of  the  school  geography  with  the  great 

75 


76  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

stream  forever  flowing  past  their  very  doors.  Many  a  boy  has  hated 
trigonometry  until  he  has  discovered  that  it  would  help  him  in  sailing  a 
ship.  To  regard  geography  and  mathematics  as  belonging  to  the  hated 
tasks  of  school,  and  rivers  and  ships  as  belonging  to  the  fascinating 
realm  of  action,  is  to  live  intellectually  a  double  life  with  dubious  results. 

Indeed,  without  such  correlation  there  is  a  constant  sense  of  unreality 
which  may  end  in  insincerity.  Under  the  spur  of  the  schoolmaster's 
rod,  or  the  marking  system,  or  the  offer  of  rewards  and  prizes,  the  pupil 
may  perform  feats  of  acquisition ;  but  the  play  of  great  motives  is  wanting, 
the  great  deeps  of  personahty  are  stagnant,  and  the  will  is  unstirred. 

All  these  considerations  apply  with  peculiar  force  to  Bible  study. 
If  Paul  could  say  that  some  of  the  early  Christians  so  misused  the  Lord's 
Supper  as  "to  eat  and  drink  condemnation  to  themselves,"  it  surely 
may  be  true  that  some  students  so  use  the  Bible  as  to  produce  mental 
disorder  and  moral  insincerity.  Bible  study  may  damage  the  harmony 
and  efficiency  of  the  personality,  and  lead  to  pronounced  religious 
reactions.  It  may  result  in  a  mere  series  of  inhibitions,  paralyzing 
native  strength  and  will.  It  may  be  so  separated  in  time,  place,  method, 
aim,  and  point  of  view  from  all  other  studies  as  practically  to  compel 
the  student  to  choose  between  the  intellectual  attitude  of  the  public 
school  or  the  college,  and  the  intellectual  attitude  generated,  if  not 
demanded,  by  the  church.  This  painful  opposition  produces  restive- 
ness,  if  not  revolt,  in  some  of  the  best  minds  of  our  day.  Thousands 
of  students  are  now  hesitating  between  the  attitude  of  the  pulpit  and  that 
of  the  professor's  chair.  If  on  Sunday  the  appeal  is  to  authority,  but  on 
Monday  to  experiment;  if  on  Sunday  the  appeal  is  to  the  receptive 
powers,  but  on  Monday  to  the  motor  and  constructive  faculties;  if  on 
Sunday  the  appeal  is  to  fear,  on  Monday  to  hope  and  love;  if  in  the 
church  we  point  to  the  supernatural  and  other-worldly,  but  in  the  school 
to  the  natural  and  the  tangible;  if  in  the  church  we  address  the  sense  of 
sin,  in  the  school  the  sense  of  self-respect;  if  the  church  addresses  the 
feelings,  while  the  public  school  addresses  the  intelligence— the  fault 
may  lie  on  both  sides,  but  the  result  is  lamentable.  It  is  this  sad  choice 
of  imaginary  alternatives  that  sent  Francis  W.  Newman  into  the  ranks 
of  the  rationahsts,  and  John  Henry  Newman  into  the  priesthood. 

Our  Puritan  fathers  faced  no  such  problem,  because  for  them  the 
Bible  was  the  norm  and  goal  of  all  study.  They  had  achieved  what 
the  Herbartians  call  the  concentration  of  studies,  and  the  Bible  was  the 
center.  They  learned  to  read  that  they  might  read  the  literature  of 
Israel;  their  writing  was  heavy  with  noble  Old  Testament  phrases;  the 
names  of  Old  Testament  heroes  they  gave  to  their  children;  its  words 


THE  BIBLE  AND  OTHER  SUBJECTS  OF  STUDY  77 

of  immortal  hope  they  inscribed  on  their  tombstones;  its  Mosaic  com- 
monwealth they  sought  to  reahze  in  England  and  America ;  its  decalogue 
was  the  foundation  of  their  laws,  and  its  prophecies  were  a  light  shining 
in  a  dark  place.  Such  a  unification  of  knowledge  produced  a  unified 
character,  simple,  stalwart,  invincible.  They  spoke,  planted,  builded, 
sailed,  governed  from  one  center,  saved  by  their  education  from  the 
desultory  disjointed  activity  of  those  educated  under  a  mass  of  hetero- 
geneous impulses.  The  Greeks  achieved  marvelous  results  through 
the  unity  of  their  education,  though  using  slender  materials.  They 
had  only  the  elements  of  science,  no  language  save  their  own,  no  music 
that  we  dare  to  repeat.  But  out  of  Homer  they  got  training  in  language, 
music,  rhetoric,  history,  geography,  cosmogony,  theology;  and  their  life 
was  well  proportioned,  strong,  and  serene.  So  the  Puritan,  drawing 
his  science  and  literature,  his  philosophy  and  political  economy,  his  law 
and  gospel  out  of  the  Bible,  achieved  a  co-ordination  of  studies  which, 
however  narrow,  was  most  effective. 

We  can  never  return  to  the  Puritan  point  of  view  in  education.  Our 
thoughts  have  widened  with  the  process  of  the  suns.  We  can  no  longer 
regard  the  laws  of  Deuteronomy  as  binding  on  us,  or  the  morality  of 
the  Old  Testament  as  complete.  We  no  longer  look  to  the  Bible  for 
our  astronomy,  our  geology,  or  even  our  psychology.  The  center  of 
studies  is  for  us  the  nature  of  the  child,  made  in  the  image  of  God,  and 
reveahng  God  at  every  stage  of  its  growth.  But  because  we  believe 
that  the  word  of  God  as  revealed  in  the  Bible  is  absolutely  essential  to 
the  education  of  every  human  being,  we  ask  for  a  close  and  constant 
co-ordination  of  Bible  study  with  all  the  studies  of  the  schools.  The 
uniqueness  of  the  Bible  does  not  mean  the  isolation  of  the  Bible.  Because 
it  is  unique  it  is  needed  at  every  stage  of  the  child's  growth,  and  needed 
in  vital  contact  with  all  the  subjects  of  study.  Religious  education  is 
simply  education  at  its  best,  education  developed  to  its  full  meaning  and 
possibility,  just  as  a  religious  man  is  simply  man  at  his  noblest  attain- 
ment. Religion  is  not  brought  to  the  school  as  a  new  piece  of  furniture, 
to  be  thrust  into  a  room  already  crowded.  It  comes  into  the  crowded 
room  as  the  sunlight,  revealing  the  meaning  and  value  of  all  that  was 
there  before.  The  study  of  the  Bible  is  not  to  be  laid  as  a  new  burden 
on  an  overloaded  curriculum ;  it  is  to  be  welcomed  as  a  supreme  help  in 
realizing  the  present  aim  of  every  true  school  and  every  teacher  who 
has  learned  to  echo  the  primeval  cry,  "Let  us  make  man."  If  the 
principle  of  graded  instruction  is  valid  in  the  study  of  American  history, 
it  is  just  as  valid  in  the  study  of  the  history  of  Israel.  The  principle  of 
uniformity  has  the  same  value  and  the  same  defects  in  the  study  of 


1/ 


78  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

English  literature  as  in  the  study  of  Biblical  literature.  The  personal 
contact,  the  touch  of  soul  on  soul,  which  has  been  so  strong  a  feature 
of  our  Bible  schools,  is  equally  needed  in  the  teaching  of  physical  science 
in  the  public  schools.  The  Bible  comes  as  the  ally  of  all  other  study, 
and  the  interpreter  of  all  mental  and  moral  growth. 

In  the  earlier  years  of  childhood  it  is  universally  agreed  that  the 
story  should  be  the  main  vehicle  of  instruction.  The  child  needs  not 
the  proposition  or  the  lecture,  but  the  vivid,  concrete,  objective  fact;  the 
"truth  embodied  in  a  tale."  So  we  go  to  the  great  storehouses  of  classic 
and  mediaeval  stories.  We  make  the  children  acquainted  with  Ulysses 
and  Hector  and  Priam,  with  the  heroes  of  the  Norse  mythology,  with  the 
Knights  of  the  Round  Table,  or  with  the  folklore  and  fairy-stories  com- 
mon to  all  civilized  peoples.  But  the  best  material  of  this  kind  in  the 
world  is  to  be  found  in  the  stories  of  the  Old  Testament.  The  stories 
of  the  garden  of  Eden,  of  the  tower  of  Babel,  of  the  flood,  of  Jacob's 
dream,  of  David's  struggles  and  victories,  of  Samuel's  call,  are  bright 
with  color,  free  from  complex  detail,  moving  in  the  realm  of  large  and 
simple  motives,  packed  with  moral  purpose.  While  in  the  public 
school  the  children  are  learning  of  Hiawatha  and  Sir  Launfal,  they  may 
learn  at  home  of  Goliath  and  Daniel  and  Isaiah.  I  know  at  least  one 
boy  that  longs  for  Sunday  to  come  that  he  may  hear  the  Bible  stories, 
reserved  for  that  day  only.  Yet  it  may  be  questioned  whether  they 
should  be  reserved  for  one  day  only.  It  would  be  a  base  concession 
to  sectarian  prejudice  if  we  should  exclude  from  the  public  school  the 
lives  of  heroes,  simply  because  they  happen  to  be  the  heroes  of  Israel. 
If  we  may  recount  the  wanderings  of  Ulysses,  why  not  those  of  Abraham  ? 
If  we  may  include  the  temptations  of  Parsifal,  why  not  those  of  Joseph  ? 
It  is  impossible  that  a  Christian  people  should  discriminate  against 
their  own  heroes,  on  the  ground  that  somebody  might  misuse  the  story 
for  sectarian  purposes.  Such  narrowness  must  be  transient.  The 
stories  of  the  Old  Testament,  with  those  of  Greece  and  Rome  and 
Scandinavia,  form  the  best  possible  pabulum  for  developing  the  imagi- 
nation, conscience,  and  will  of  childhood.  Not  all  of  the  Bible  is  good 
for  all  ages.  The  attempt  to  teach  children  the  PauHne  epistles  or  the 
minor  prophets  is  futile.  But  the  material  furnished  in  the  Biblical 
stories  is  surpassingly  vivid,  and  for  childhood  indispensable. 

A  little  later  in  the  child's  life  comes  the  study  of  language.  But 
there  can  be  no  adequate  study  of  English  apart  from  our  English  Bible. 
The  preference  of  the  common  people  for  the  King  James  version  is  not 
the  result  of  ignorance.  It  is  the  preference  for  a  great  English  classic, 
rather  than  for  a  diluted  version  which  has  gained  in  accuracy,  but 


THE  BIBLE  AND  OTHER  SUBJECTS  OF  STUDY  79 

has  lost  in  courage,  resonance,  and  power.  If  two  writers  of  so  opposite 
temperament  as  John  Ruskin  and  Charles  A.  Dana  can  direct  all  would- 
be  masters  of  our  Enghsh  speech  to  the  Bible,  we  may  well  believe 
their  witness.  B\irke  and  Webster,  Wordsworth  and  Tennyson,  are 
unintelligible  apart  from  knowledge  of  the  Bible,  and  no  child  brought 
up  in  the  atmosphere  of  the  Bible  can  fail  to  get  command  of  his  mother- 
tongue. 

When  the  growing  child  comes  to  the  serious  study  of  literature,  he 
ought  to  reahze  that  no  nobler  hterature  exists  than  that  of  Israel. 
Side  by  side  with  the  development  of  the  literatures  of  modern  Europe 
should  go  the  study  of  the  growth  of  the  poetry  and  prophec}-  of  the  Old 
Testament.  Job  is  as  worthy  of  study  as  ^Eschylus  or  Goethe.  The 
exquisite  letter  of  Paul  to  Philemon  cannot  be  matched  by  anything  in 
the  correspondence  of  Cicero  or  Seneca,  and  the  proverbs  of  Solomon 
deserve  at  least  as  much  attention  as  the  maxims  of  poor  Richard. 

I  should  like  to  see  the  Religious  Education  Association  appoint  a 
committee  of  representative  men  from  various  churches  to  compile  a 
book  of  selections  from  the  Bible,  suited  for  use  in  our  schools.  It 
would  be  easy  for  Protestant,  Catholic,  Jew,  and  agnostic  to  agree  on 
certain  historical  and  ethical  selections  from  the  Bible,  which,  if  I  mis- 
take not,  would  speedily  find  their  way  into  general  use  in  the  public 
schools  of  America. 

When  the  boy  comes  to  the  study  of  history,  he  needs  to  realize  that 
Semitic  history  is  quite  as  valuable  to  us  as  that  of  Greece  or  Rome. 
The  student  of  the  development  of  laws  and  institutions  cannot  ignore 
the  laws  of  ancient  Israel  or  the  origin  of  the  Christian  church.  If 
these  things  cannot  be  taught  in  the  public  school,  they  certainly  can 
be  in  the  home  and  private  school  and  the  Christian  college.  Thirty 
years  ago  there  was  not  a  college  in  New  England  where  a  student  could 
get  any  instruction  in  the  Bible.  Yet  every  one  of  these  colleges  was 
founded  deep  in  Christian  faith.  This  surprising  omission  of  a  former 
generation  is  now  remedied,  and  we  are  offering  courses  in  Biblical 
history  and  literature  in  every  institution  of  the  highest  collegiate  grade. 
Surely  no  study  of  ethics  is  worthy  of  college  men  which  deals  with 
Aristotle  and  Kant,  but  ignores  the  epistles  to  the  Corinthians,  or  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount.  The  ethical  content  of  the  Pauline  world-view 
is  quite  as  important  for  us  as  the  system  of  Schopenhauer  or  of  Nietzsche. 
The  organization  of  the  New  England  town-meeting  is  no  more  weighty 
for  the  American  boy  than  the  organization  of  the  early  Christian  church. 
John  Adams  and  John  Hancock  and  Abraham  Lincoln  are  only  the 
natural  successors  of  the  great  Hebrew  champions  of  liberty  and  right- 


8o  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

eousness  who  faced  Pharaoh  and  Ahab,  and  "put  to  flight  armies  of 
aliens."  No  study  of  philosophy,  ethics,  sociology,  or  political  institu- 
tions can  be  called  serious  which  does  not  give  large  place  to  the  concep- 
tions and  dominant  impulses  of  the  great  leaders  of  the  Hebrew  people. 

It  will  be  said  that  this  study  of  the  Bible  from  a  literary  or  historical 
or  sociological  standpoint  will  never  replace  the  old  reverence  for  the 
Bible  as  an  oracle,  as  the  infallible  teacher  and  guide  on  all  subjects 
and  in  all  realms.  Perhaps  not.  We  have  already  admitted  that  the 
Puritan  attitude  cannot  return.  But  I  have  faith  enough  in  the  Bible 
to  believe  that  the  better  we  understand  it,  the  more  influential  it  will 
become.  I  believe  that  its  power  is  not  enhanced  by  keeping  it  aloft 
on  some  pedestal  of  adoration,  but  by  bringing  it  home  to  men's  business 
and  bosoms.  The  most  important  question  is  not  how  to  co-ordinate 
the  Bible  with  certain  studies,  but  how  to  interrelate  it  with  the  daily 
life  of  our  children  and  young  people.  Our  best  public-school  teachers 
are  today  trying  to  destroy  the  fatal  divorce  between  school  and  home, 
or  the  school  and  society.  The  real  problem  for  us  is  how  to  relate  the 
study  of  the  Bible  to  all  that  our  pupils  are  doing  during-the  week. 
The  aim  of  Jesus  in  this  respect  was  very  clear.  He  constantly  settled 
present-day  questions  by  referring  to  Old  Testament  characters  and 
principles.  His  constant  formula  was,  "It  is  written,"  and  His  con- 
stant question,  "Have  ye  not  read?"  When  they  asked  Him  about 
marriage,  about  sabbath-keeping,  about  the  resurrection.  He  referred 
them  directly  to  Israel's  history.  To  Him  the  Old  Testament  was  no 
mere  storehouse  of  antiquities,  but  alive  with  truth  of  momentous  appli- 
cation to  the  present.  So  the  great  Reformers  of  the  sixteenth  century 
strengthened  themselves  by  the  thought  of  Moses  before  Pharaoh  and 
Elijah  defying  Ahab.  The  power  of  such  books  as  The  Prince  oj  the 
House  oj  David  in  a  former  generation,  and  of  Ben  Hur  in  our  own, 
springs  from  the  correlation  of  the  old  Biblical  material  with  the  hopes 
and  fears  and  aspirations  of  our  present  life.  The  Sunday  school  of 
the  last  generation  derived  its  main  power  from  the  fact  that  the  teacher, 
however  ill  equipped,  did  incessantly  apply  the  truth  to  life. 

Indeed,  the  church  has  an  advantage  here  which  few  public  schools 
possess.  It  is  a  community  of  men  and  women  who  are  learning  to 
live  together.  Its  object  is  not  merely  to  know,  but  to  do,  and  to  learn 
by  doing.  The  laboratory  method  may  be  slowly  and  painfully  intro- 
duced into  our  schools;  it  is  the  very  life  of  our  churches.  The  church 
was  organized,  not  to  study  methods  of  poor-relief,  but  to  relieve  the 
poor;  not  to  prove  the  existence  of  God,  but  to  worship  Him;  not  simply 
to  explain  Christ,  but  to  follow  Him.     The  church  began  in  Palestine 


THE  BIBLE  AND  OTHER  SUBJECTS  OF  STUDY  8i 

with  the  formation  of  a  society  of  twelve  men,  and  by  its  origin  and 
history  and  genius  is  committed  to  practical  ends  in  real  life.  The 
method  of  experiment  has  been  long  in  penetrating  secular  education; 
but  insistence  on  experience  as  the  test  of  truth  is  as  old  as  the  New 
Testament.  Whatever  is  taught  in  the  schools  of  the  church  should  be 
interwoven  with  all  the  church  is  doing  during  the  week.  Then,  to 
speak  in  the  language  of  the  educator,  we  have  correlated  instruction 
with  experiment;  or,  to  speak  in  the  language  of  the  Christian,  the  "life 
becomes  the  hght  of  men." 


DISCUSSION 
PRESIDENT  MARY  E.  WOOLLEY,  Litt.D., 

MOUNT   HOLYOKE   COLLEGE,   SOUTH   HADLEY,   MASSACHUSETTS 

It  would  be  difficult  to  add  a  new  thought  to  the  papers  which  have 
been  so  exhaustive,  strong,  and  beautiful  in  their  treatment  of  the 
subject.  All  that  I  can  hope  to  do  is  to  give  the  impression  of  the  Bible 
which  their  discussion  has  made  more  vivid,  that  is,  its  educational 
value  as  a  Book  of  Life. 

History  is  the  story  of  human  life  and  progress ;  yet  to  many  it  means 
simply  a  collection  of  dates,  a  category  of  kings  and  battles  and  suc- 
cessions. To  enter  into  the  life  of  the  men  and  women  of  other  ages 
and  distant  lands,  to  realize  that  they  were  of  like  passions  with  ourselves, 
living  beings,  not  simply  names  on  a  printed  page — men  and  women 
with  hopes  and  ambitions,  joys  and  sorrows,  with  as  vivid  a  sense  of 
life,  of  reality,  as  is  ours  today — that  is  the  first  step  for  one  who  would 
read  history  aright.  And  the  educational  value  of  the  Bible  in  giving 
this  historic  sense  is  not  easily  overestimated.  Its  men  and  women 
live.  Its  records  are  valuable  not  simply  as  "sources."  We  are  taken 
into  the  confidence  of  the  writer,  introduced  into  the  life,  told  the  story 
as  if  by  word  of  mouth,  in  so  simple  and  graphic  a  way  that  Joseph  and 
Samuel  and  David  belong,  not  to  a  shadowy  past,  but  to  a  living  present. 
In  no  other  history  or  Hterature  do  the  characters,  drawn  in  such  simple 
lines,  make  so  vivid  an  impression  of  reality. 

But  it  is  not  only  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  historian  that  the 
Bible  is  educationally  valuable.  In  these  days  of  advance  in  methods, 
equipment,  and  the  training  of  scholars,  there  has  not  been  a  correspond- 
ing development  in  the  art  of  expression.  Students  understand  scien- 
tific investigation  and  historical  research  better  than  the  art  of  self- 
expression,  of  giving  wings  to  their  thought.  Frequent  reference  has 
been  made  to  the  testimony  which  the  masters  of  English  style  have 
given  of  their  debt  to  the  Bible,  and  the  corresponding  loss  which  lack 
of  familiarity  with  this  literature  has  meant  to  the  present  generation. 
It  has  been  truly  said  that  "the  Book  which  begot  English  prose  still 
remains  its  supreme  type,"  so  that  we  cannot  afford  from  the  literary 
point  of  view  to  ignore  the  Bible  in  our  educational  systems.  The 
vividness  of  the  narrative,  the  poetic  power  and  beauty  of  psalm  and 
prophecy,  the  direct  logical  appeal  of  the  epistles,  the  simplicity  and 
charm  of  the  gospels,  are  a  rich  heritage  for  the  lover  of  literature. 

82 


DISCUSSION  83 

Educational  value  is  not  to  be  measured  only  in  the  scales  of  the 
historian  or  of  the  litterateur.  "The  aim  of  all  education  is  to  prepare 
for  more  complete  Uving,"  is  the  thought  of  today,  expressed  in  many 
ways.  "The  Hebrews  had  a  genius  in  finding  the  truth  to  live  by,"  was 
said  in  one  of  the  discussions  this  afternoon.  The  Bible  is  not  a  col- 
lection of  creeds  or  of  precepts;  it  is  a  book  of  lives;  and  by  means  of 
these  lives  the  fundamental  truths  of  human  life  and  its  relationship  to 
the  divine  have  been  taught.  "Search  the  Scriptures;  for  in  them  ye 
think  ye  have  eternal  life:  and  they  are  they  which  testify  of  me,"  said 
the  Master.  Education  as  a  preparation  for  more  complete  living  must 
turn  to  the  record  of  that  Life  which  by  the  shores  of  Galilee  and  among 
the  hills  of  Judea  gave  to  all  life  its  permanent  ideal  and  inspiration. 


REV.  WILLIAM  F.  McDOWELL,  Ph.D.,  S.T.D., 

CORRESPONDING  SECRETARY  BOARD  OF  EDUCATION,  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH, 

NEW  YORK  CITY 

I  wish  to  speak  particularly  of  Bible  study  and  teaching  in  the 
colleges.  It  is  not  my  purpose  to  try  to  make  any  large  contribution 
to  the  philosophy  of  it,  but  chiefly  to  report  some  facts  concerning  it. 

Bible  study  in  colleges  is  of  two  kinds,  personal  and  organized. 
The  personal  study  includes  the  purely  devotional  reading  and  such 
other  study  as  individuals  may  do.  It  has  a  very  large  manifestation 
in  the  observance  of  what  is  known  as  the  "morning  watch."  It  is  of 
course  impossible  to  say  how  much  of  this  there  is.  It  is  enough  to  say 
that  ihere  never  was  more,  and  that  the  quantity  increases.  Organized 
study  is  of  two  kinds:  the  voluntary  classes  formed  by  students  them- 
selves, and  the  class  instruction  offered  by  the  institutions.  The  former 
is  usually  under  the  direct  care  of  the  Christian  Association,  and  has 
now  reached  immense  proportions  and  a  very  high  state  of  efficiency. 
Perhaps  you  do  not  know  either  the  character  or  the  extent  of  that  work. 
Let  me  tell  you  then.  There  is  a  preparatory-school  course  in  "The 
Life  and  Works  of  Jesus,  according  to  St.  Mark;"  a  freshman  course  in 
"Studies  in  the  Life  of  Christ  Based  upon  the  Harmony  of  the  Four 
Gospels;"  a  sophomore  course  in  "Studies  in  the  Acts  and  Epistles;" 
a  junior  course  in  "Studies  in  Old  Testament  Characters;"  and  a 
senior  course  in  "Studies  in  the  Teachings  of  Jesus  and  His  Apostles." 
The  method  of  the  last  course  is  the  inductive,  topical  method.  The 
other  courses  employ  the  historical  method.  In  summer  conferences 
and  in  colleges  these  courses  are  pursued.  They  have  been  prepared 
by  the  best  Biblical  scholars  and  teachers  among  us.  I  have  personally 
watched  this  work  through  several  years  with  keen  interest  and  growing 
satisfaction. 


84  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

And  such  courses  are  popular  with  the  students  themselves.  Twenty 
years  ago  Professor  Austin  Phelps  deplored  the  lack  of  interest  in  Bible 
study,  and  wondered  whether  a  course,  if  offered  at  Harvard,  for  instance, 
would  awaken  anything  like  the  interest  that  a  course  in  Shakespeare 
would.  That  was  twenty  years  ago.  I  have  pleasure  in  reporting  to 
you  that  there  are  in  the  colleges  today  more  than  eighteen  hundred  of 
these  voluntary  Bible  classes  enrolling  nearly  twenty  thousand  students. 
These  are  the  figures  for  the  men  alone.  I  could  not  obtain  the  figures 
for  classes  among  women  in  time  for  this  discussion.  These  classes  are 
in  every  kind  of  institution  for  higher  learning.  The  busiest  man  in  the 
employ  of  the  International  Committee  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association  is  the  Bible-study  secretary. 

Now,  do  not  imagine  that  there  is  a  wild  rush  on  the  part  of  college 
students  to  form  or  get  into  Bible  classes.  All  this  requires  work  and 
effort.  These  college  students  are  not  saints — any  more  than  you  are. 
They  are  just  as  busy  as  you  are,  and  have  as  many  excuses  for  not 
doing  any  Bible  study.  Nevertheless,  they  are  doing  this.  They  are 
doing  it  in  this  large  way.     And  they  like  it. 

The  other  form  of  organized  instruction  is  the  direct  class-room 
instruction  offered  by  the  colleges  themselves.  I  doubt  whether  there 
ever  was  so  much  of  this  before.  An  institution  is  hardly  respectable 
now  which  does  not  provide  courses  in  the  English  Bible.  The  colleges 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church  are  required  by  the  law  of  the  church 
to  provide  for  the  literary  and  historical  study  of  the  Bible.  Two  or 
three  things  ought  to  be  said  about  this.  These  courses  must  not  be 
so  conducted  as  to  be  merely  "snap  electives."  They  have  to  be  on 
the  same  intellectual  basis  as  the  courses  in  English  literature  or  history 
are.  Professorships  in  the  EngHsh  Bible  are  no  place  for  pious  incom- 
petents or  well-meaning  men  with  a  demoralizing  tendency  to  moralize. 
This  work  cannot  be  done  by  the  belated  or  "ignorant  good  man." 
Nor  are  these  the  chairs  for  the  display  of  smart  scholarship  or  the 
destructive  temper.  This  work  calls  for  the  best  ability  and  the  highest 
order  of  personality  to  be  found  anywhere. 

And  it  calls  for  a  surer  financial  basis  than  it  has  yet  had.  It  cannot 
be  tacked  on  to  the  work  of  another  department.  The  day  will  come 
when  this  department  will  be  as  well  endowed  and  as  adequately 
equipped  as  the  department  of  science.  Then  Bible  study  in  the  col- 
leges will  come  to  its  kingdom.  I  commend  this  to  men  and  women  of 
means. 

I  speak  finally  of  the  spirit  in  which  this  study  ought  to  be,  and  in 
the  main  is,  conducted  by  both  students  and  teachers  in  the  colleges. 


DISCUSSION  85 

It  is  characterized  by  the  passion  for  reality.  The  student  is  a  human 
being  in  college.  He  has  his  vices  as  well  as  his  virtues.  But  the  love 
for  reality  is  one  of  his  virtues.  I  sometimes  think  it  is  his  cardinal 
virtue.  Nowhere  else  does  the  real  word  go  so  far  and  the  unreal  word 
count  for  so  little  as  in  college.  Genuineness  in  either  utterance  or  life 
appeals  to  the  student.  He  carries  this  attitude  into  his  Bible  study. 
He  likes  the  real  ring  of  its  pages.  Its  men,  its  frank  dealing  with 
manhood,  and  its  perfect  candor  appeal  to  him.  Above  all  in  his  search 
for  reality  is  he  gratified  and  satisfied  with  the  supreme  Person  there  in 
the  gospels.  That  figure  seems  to  the  student  the  most  real  and  genuine, 
as  it  is  the  most  perfect  of  all  the  lives  he  has  seen  or  is  hkely  to  see. 
The  passion  for  reality  finds  its  highest  expression  in  a  passionate  devo- 
tion to  Jesus  Christ.  I  never  have  seen  so  much  of  that  as  there  is  in 
the  colleges  today. 

I  borrow  a  sentence  to  describe  this  temper  still  further.  The 
student  "wants  to  keep  the  faith."  He  does  not  study  the  Bible  that 
he  may  doubt  or  cease  to  believe  in  Jesus  Christ,  but  that  he  may  believe. 
Do  not  be  disturbed  by  the  fear  that  the  colleges  are  secretly  conspiring 
to  destroy  faith  in  the  Bible.  The  end  and  aim  of  all  they  are  trying 
to  do  is  a  firmer  and  more  living  faith.  Not  a  smaller  but  a  larger 
faith  is  desired  and  sought.  But,  borrowing  another  word,  he  wants 
also  "to  keep  an  open  mind  as  regards  the  truth."  The  student  can- 
not separate  his  faith  from  his  thinking.  That  would  be  to  destroy 
both.  He  seeks  "to  knit  up  Christian  truth  with  the  rest  of  the  furni- 
ture of  his  mind."     The  spirit  of  this  Bible  study  might  be  expressed 

in  the  words : 

Let  knowledge  grow  from  more  to  more, 
And  more  of  reverence,  too. 

And  finally  he  seeks  to  correlate  all  this  Bible  study  with  his  personal 
life  and  its  activities.  He  does  not  always  use  that  fine  word,  but  he 
does  the  thing  itself.  We  roll  the  word  like  a  sweet  morsel  under  our 
tongues.  It  would  hardly  be  respectable  not  to  say  something  about 
correlation.  But  the  students — taking  them  by  and  large,  recognizing 
the  exceptions — are  studying  the  Bible  and  thinking  of  life's  problems 
in  village  and  country,  life's  difficulties  in  the  big,  bad,  good  cities,  and 
the  larger  interests  of  the  world-wide  kingdom  of  Christ.f 

The  Bible  is  the  least  academic  of  all  books.  It  is  the  most  vital. 
And  it  must  be  so  taught  and  so  studied  as  to  get  related  to  life. 
The  literature  of  Hebrew  and  Christian  arose  out  of  life.  It  must 
return  upon  life.  Knowledge  of  it,  bringing  knowledge  of  the  Lord  of 
life,  must  enrich,  ennoble,  and  empower  the  life  into  which  it  comes. 
And  it  does. 


FOURTH   SESSION 


THE  ANNUAL  SURVEY  OF  PROGRESS  IN  RELIGIOUS 
AND  MORAL  EDUCATION 

PRESIDENT  CHARLES  CUTHBERT  HALL,  D.D., 

UNION  THEOLOGICAL   SEMINARY,   NEW  YORK  CITY 

In  preparing  this  "Annual  Survey"  I  have  thought  it  to  be  my  first 
duty  to  record  the  impressions  made  upon  my  mind  by  the  mass  of 
facts  coming  under  observation. 

The  impressions  of  an  individual  can  claim  no  absolute  authority 
over  the  minds  of  others;  but,  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  they  possess 
relative  value  for  the  end  in  view.  The  appointment  of  a  person  to 
prepare  "The  Annual  Survey  of  Progress  in  Religious  and  Moral 
Education"  carries  with  it  the  obligation  of  the  appointee  to  place 
himself  sanely  and  sensitively  in  contact  with  the  sum  total  of  concrete 
facts,  and  to  register  the  impressions  made  by  them  upon  his  self- 
consciousness  as  nearly  automatically  as  possible.  Thus,  in  the  last 
analysis,  the  deliberations  of  many  minds  working  on  many  lines  focus 
themselves  upon  the  problem  in  hand,  and  approach  fundamental  prin- 
ciples and  methods  of  procedure. 

Six  distinct  impressions  have  registered  themselves  upon  my  mind 
in  the  process  of  analyzing  and  arranging  the  body  of  details  collected 
as  the  basis  of  the  annual  survey  of  the  field  of  religious  and  moral 
education  in  this  country.  The  first  part  of  this  address  will  consist  in 
the  enumeration  and  interpretation  of  these  six  impressions.  Stated 
concisely,  they  are  these: 

1.  The  vastness  of  the  field  of  religious  and  moral  education  in 
this  country,  and  of  the  forces  operating  within  it. 

2.  The  lack  of  co-ordination  between  the  constructive  forces  in  this 
field — a  deficiency  somewhat  counterbalanced  by  the  underlying  homo- 
geneity of  ideal  and  of  purpose  beneath  these  forces. 

3.  The  presence  of  certain  inimical  conditions  that  must  be  reck- 
oned with. 

4.  The  prevalence  of  unorganized  sentiment  in  favor  of  the  better 
things. 

5.  The  timeliness  of  the  Religious  Education  Association  as  a 
possible  agent  of  an  adequate  co-ordination  of  principles  and  methods. 

86 


THE  ANNUAL  SURVEY  OF  PROGRESS  87 

6.  The  conviction  that  the  Association  records  progress  in  record- 
ing at  this  early  stage  in  its  life  an  intelligent  perception  of  the  need  of 
progress. 

To  the  interpretation  of  these  impressions  I  shall  now  proceed: 

I.  The  vastness  0}  the  field  of  religious  and  moral  education  in  this 
country,  and  of  the  forces  operating  therein.  The  first  year  in  the  life  of 
the  Association  has  revealed  the  size  of  the  problem  undertaken.  The 
general  education  of  the  American  people  is  a  subject  the  proportions 
of  which  have  been  ascertained  by  the  labors  of  a  national  organization 
of  teachers  (the  National  Educational  Association)  that  has  been  in 
operation  for  years.  But  the  range  and  magnitude  of  the  matters  dis- 
tinctly bearing  upon  the  religious  and  moral  aspects  of  education  are 
now,  for  the  first  time,  to  be  massed  in  bulk,  and  classified  for  investi- 
gation. I  am  aware  of  the  objection  raised  against  the  apparent 
separation  thus  made  of  moral  or  religious  education  from  education 
in  general.  The  president  of  Yale  University  contributes  a  valuable 
caution  against  arbitrary  divisions  in  the  field  of  education,  when  he 
says  in  a  letter  addressed  to  myself: 

Speaking  broadly,  we  disbelieve  in  the  idea  that  moral  and  religious  instruc- 
tion should  be  separated  from  other  instruction.  We  regard  any  good  course  in 
law  or  in  ethics,  in  history  or  in  literature,  as  having  good  moral  and  religious 
effects;  but  we  should  hesitate  to  draw  up  a  scheme  that  should  separate  those 
courses  which  were  distinctively  moral  and  religious  from  those  which  were  not. 

Dissent  from  these  sound  words  is,  I  think,  impossible.  The  indirect 
relation  to  character  sustained  by  all  educational  subjects  and  methods, 
and  the  unwisdom  of  introducing  arbitrary  lines  of  division  may  be 
assumed;  but  this  assumption  does  not  reduce  the  demand  for  an 
organization  charged  with  special  duty  toward  institutions  and  subjects 
directly  affecting  moral  culture  and  religious  conviction.  The  demo- 
cratic spirit  of  American  life  not  only  brings  the  people  at  large  into 
contact  with  such  institutions  and  subjects,  but  it  evolves  such  institu- 
tions and  subjects  out  of  the  common  thinking  and  common  living  of 
the  people  themselves,  upon  an  impressive  scale  of  numerical  strength 
and  ethical  significance.  One  cannot  travel  far  in  any  .section  of  the 
country  without  having  reason  to  know  that  education  in  righteousness 
and  in  the  practice  of  religion  lies  close  to  the  heart  of  our  national 
commonwealth.  The  field  covered  by  these  primary  ideas  is  as  broad 
as  the  continent  itself.  The  methods  chosen  to  express  them  exhibit 
every  gradation  from  weakness  to  strength,  and  call  for  all  emotions 
from  admiration  to  compassion  and  concern.  But  the  ideas  themselves 
are  present  in  the  soul  of  the  American  people,  struggling  for  expression 
— demanding  broad  and  prudent  oversight. 


88  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

2.  The  lack  of  co-ordination  between  the  constructive  forces  in  the  field 
of  religious  and  moral  education — a  deficiency  somewhat  counterbalanced 
by  the  underlying  homogeneity  of  ideal  and  purpose  beneath  these  forces. 
The  first  "Annual  Survey"  of  this  vast  field  brings  to  the  mind  of  the 
observer  a  striking  impression  of  lack  of  co-ordination  between  the  con- 
structive forces  at  present  operating  in  our  country  with  a  view  to 
moral  and  religious  education.  The  energy  is  almost  unbounded;  but, 
through  lack  of  co-ordination,  much  of  its  effect,  relatively,  is  wasted. 
One  is  reminded  of  St.  Paul's  words  concerning  Israel:  "I  bear  them 
record  that  they  have  a  zeal  of  God,  but  not  according  to  knowledge." 
"The  zeal  of  God,"  as  represented  by  popular  opinion  on  the  side  of 
moral  and  religious  education,  impresses  one  greatly  by  its  genuineness 
and  in  some  degree  by  its  inventiveness;  but  some  of  these  constructive 
forces  are  working  at  cross-purposes  with  others;  there  is  much  dupli- 
cation, much  misapplied  or  non-applied  energy,  much  beating  of  the 
air.  There  is  a  striking  need  of  oversight:  not  of  mandatory  authority, 
but  of  that  higher  type  of  authority  born  of  friendly  counsel  among 
large-minded  men.  This  Association,  for  its  convenience,  has  divided 
the  field  of  religious  and  moral  education  into  seventeen  Departments: 
the  Council  of  Religious  Education ;  Universities  and  Colleges ;  Theologi- 
cal Seminaries;  Churches  and  Pastors;  Sunday  Schools;  Secondary 
Public  Schools;  Elementary  Pubhc  Schools;  Private  Schools;  Teacher 
Training;  Christian  Associations;  Young  People's  Societies;  the  Home; 
Libraries;  the  Press;  Correspondence  Instruction;  Summer  Assem- 
blies; Religious  Art  and  Music. 

Into  whichsoever  of  these  Departments  we  look,  penetrating  beneath 
the  mass  of  concrete  facts  in  search  of  principles,  we  find  relative  lack 
of  co-ordination  between  the  constructive  forces  working  in  that  section 
of  the  field.  We  obtain  evidence  that  opportunities  are  emerging  in 
advance  of  the  capacity  of  institutions  to  assimilate  them;  or  that  men 
are  groping  after  principles  by  the  flickering  light  of  experimental 
methods,  rather  than  using  methods  that  are  the  natural  outcome  of 
settled  principles.  It  is  but  just  to  say  that,  in  my  opinion,  the  Depart- 
ment which  exhibits  the  least  loss  of  power  through  indirection,  or 
vagueness,  or  imperfect  self-realization,  or  duplication,  is  the  Depart- 
ment of  Christian  Associations.  When  we  regard  the  seventeen  Depart- 
ments collectively,  as  seventeen  co-workers  in  one  common  field,  the 
lack  of  co-ordination  between  them  arrests  attention  and  suggests 
many  searching  inquiries.  The  waste  of  power  appears  to  be  enormous; 
the  argument  in  favor  of  systematic  co-operation  approaches  demon- 
stration.    Yet  beneath   the  limitations  of  the  present  status   is  one 


THE  ANNUAL  SURVEY  OF  PROGRESS  89 

countervailing  fact — the  underlying  harmony  of  ideal  and  of  purpose. 
In  method  there  may  be  occasional  waste  of  energy,  indeterminate 
counsel,  barren  expediency;  nevertheless  in  purpose,  in  ideal,  men 
see  eye  to  eye.  E.xcept  for  our  community  of  purpose  and  ideal,  this 
Association  could  not  have  come  into  being.  It  is  because  our  hopes 
and  our  aims  are  one  that  we  have  organized,  with  God's  blessing,  to 
co-ordinate  our  methods  and  to  conserve  all  energy  for  the  advancement 
of  our  common  work.  The  words  of  the  president  of  Otterbein  Uni- 
versity, Ohio,  may  be  accepted  as  prophetic  of  a  spirit  that  shall  manifest 
itself  throughout  the  country,  as  the  purposes  of  the  Association  become 
clearer  to  itself  and  better  understood  by  the  public: 

We  shall  be  glad  to  get  the  help  of  the  Religious  Education  Association,  to 
make  our  Christian  work  here  more  systematic  and  thorough  and  to  widen  its 
scope. 

3.  The  presence  of  certain  inimical  conditions  that  must  be  reckoned 
with.  It  is  not  to  be  expected  that  a  movement  of  the  magnitude  and 
comprehensiveness  of  the  Religious  Education  Association  shall  meet 
only  favorable  conditions.  Evidence  is  not  lacking  that  it  must  prepare 
itself  to  deal  wisely,  patiently,  and  sympathetically  with  opinions  and 
practices  that  represent  active  or  passive  resistance  of  its  policy  and 
purpose.  Nor  must  it  unadvisedly  interpret  that  resistance  as  directed 
against  religious  education,  but  as  representing  divergent  views  of  its 
relation  to  the  individual  or  to  society.  I  refer  especially  to  three 
conditions  more  or  less  inimical  to  the  broad  purpose  of  the  founders  of 
this  Association:  (i)  the  restlessness  of  young  minds  in  a  period  of 
general  intellectual  transition;  (2)  the  tendency  on  the  part  of  old, 
established  usages  in  churches  and  Sunday  schools  toward  the  passive 
resistance  of  educational  progress;  (3)  the  apparent  tendency  in  Ameri- 
can life  to  underestimate  the  importance  of  religious  conviction  as  an 
element  of  education  for  citizenship. 

With  regard  to  the  first  of  these  instances — the  restlessness  of  young 
minds  in  a  period  of  general  intellectual  transition — the  words  of  the 
president  of  Brown  University  are  illuminating: 

It  is  difficult  to  describe  in  a  sentence  the  moral  and  religious  life  of  any  insti- 
tution. I  beheve  that  our  moral  life  is  purer  than  at  any  previous  time.  I  believe 
that  young  college  men  today  find  much  more  difficulty  than  thirty  years  ago  in 
reconciling  new  views  of  the  world-order  with  the  religious  teachings  of  their  child- 
hood. A  certain  state  of  perplexity  thereby  often  results;  but  I  believe  the  funda- 
mental attachment  to  religious  conviction  is  as  great  as  ever. 

In  the  material  that  has  come  under  my  eye  in  the  preparation  o£  this 
survey  I  find  ground  for  expressing  the  earnest  hope  that  the  Religious 
Education  Association  shall  consider  this  whole  subject  with  a  view  to 


90  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

obtaining  for  young  lives,  if  possible,  more  ample  assistance  in  their 
school  and  college  curricula  in  adjusting  the  religious  difl&culties  inevi- 
tably created  by  the  growth  of  knowledge. 

With  regard  to  the  second  of  these  instances — the  tendency  on  the 
part  of  old,  established  usages  in  churches  and  Sunday  schools  toward 
the  passive  resistance  of  educational  progress — it  may  be  said  that 
nowhere  in  the  vast  field  is  there  more  need  of  patience  and  considera- 
tion than  at  the  points  where  passive  resistance  of  educational  progress 
represents  attachment  to  cherished  inheritances.  There  are  modes  of 
procedure  in  public  worship  tolerated  in  certain  parts  of  the  land  that 
are  detrimental  to  reverence  and  religious  progress;  there  are  methods 
of  instruction  practiced  in  religious  schools  that  must  be  regarded  as 
incompatible  with  sound  educational  principles.  These  methods  of 
worship  and  instruction  offer,  and  for  some  time  may  be  expected  to 
offer,  a  formidable  passive  resistance,  against  which  little  is  gained  by 
abruptness  and  lack  of  consideration.  The  inertia  generated  by  long 
usage,  and  the  sentiment  born  of  familiar  personal  association,  must  be 
reckoned  with  upon  any  theory  of  substantial  progress.  The  work  of 
analysis  and  forecast  done  in  the  Department  of  Religious  Art  and 
Music,  and  the  research  conducted  in  the  Department  of  Sunday 
Schools,  would  seem  to  indicate  that  the  Religious  Education  Associa- 
tion will  neither  underestimate  the  inimical  force  of  passive  resistance 
in  this  part  of  the  field  of  operation,  nor  strengthen  that  force  by  a 
policy  involving  hasty  and  irritating  procedure. 

With  regard  to  the  third  instance  of  an  inimical  force  that  must  be 
reckoned  with — the  apparent  tendency  in  American  life  to  underesti- 
mate the  importance  of  religious  conviction  as  an  element  of  education 
for  citizenship — it  is  to  be  said  that  the  situation  in  secondary  public 
schools,  state  universities,  and  many  colleges  not  supported  from  the 
public  funds  suggests  the  presence  of  this  tendency.  It  is  obvious  that 
certain  difficulties  stand  in  the  way  of  positive  religious  teaching  as  a 
part  of  the  policy  of  institutions  offering  training  in  arts  and  sciences 
to  students  of  various  faiths.  But,  apparently,  there  is  not  at  present  an 
adequate  sense  of  the  bearing  of  religious  conviction  upon  citizenship, 
or  an  adequate  anxiety  in  view  of  the  fact  that  education  in  this  country 
so  largely  is  nonreligious.  The  alertness  of  pedagogical  leaders  upon 
every  question  of  intellectual  advance  stands  in  alarming  contrast  with 
the  lack,  apparent  in  certain  quarters,  of  a  sense  of  responsibility  for 
promoting  religious  conviction  as  an  integral  part  of  the  training  for 
citizenship.  In  response  to  inquiries  which  I  have  been  conducting  in 
all  parts  of  the  United  States  with  a  view  of  ascertaining  if  there  be  a 


THE  ANNUAL  SURVEY  OF  PROGRESS  91 

tendency  in  American  life  to  underestimate  the  importance  of  religious 
conviction  as  an  element  of  education  for  citizenship,  the  following  reply 
from  the  president  of  a  state  university  containing  nearly  a  thousand 
students  represents  an  acceptance  of  the  status  quo  which,  I  fear,  is  by 
no  means  uncommon : 

The  University,  of  course,  is  a  state  institution;  consequently  no  religious 
doctrines  whatever  are  taught  in  the  institution.  We  have  only  one  hour  per 
week  set  apart  for  chapel  purposes,  and  the  students  are  left  entirely  free  as  to 
whether  they  attend  these  exercises.  So  far  as  I  observe,  the  moral  and  religious 
tone  in  the  University  is  fairly  good. 

It  is  gratifying  to  receive  from  the  heads  of  certain  state  and  pri- 
vate institutions  indications  of  the  gravest  concern  in  view  of  the  sig- 
nificance for  citizenship  of  a  practically  nonreligious  education,  and  to 
be  assured  of  their  hearty  appreciation  of  voluntary  movements  on  the 
part  of  students  to  supply  themselves  with  religious  opportunities  not 
ofifered  in  their  curriculum.  But  a  careful  survey  of  the  situation 
suggests  the  fear  that  in  American  life  in  general  too  little  appreciation 
exists  of  the  obUgation  to  surround  our  youth  with  religious  ideals 
and  influences  officially  associated  with  the  institutions  that  provide 
opportunities  for  training  on  other  lines.  It  is  my  conviction,  based 
upon  material  gathered  at  first-hand  for  this  "Annual  Survey,"  that, 
by  reason  of  a  tendency  toward  tolerant  nonreligion  which  is  growing 
in  American  life,  this  Association  is  challenged  to  devote  its  best  endeav- 
ors to  awaken  and  to  educate  a  public  sense  of  religion  as  a  vital  part  of 
education  for  good  citizenship. 

4.  In  analyzing  and  arranging  the  body  of  details  collected  as  the 
basis  of  this  "Annual  Survey,"  I  have  been  impressed  with  the  preva- 
lence of  unorganized  sentiment  in  favor  of  the  better  things.  The  country 
is  filled  with  unclassified  aspirations.  The  tendency  toward  tolerant 
nonreligion,  to  which  I  have  referred,  is  counteracted  by  an  earnestness 
which  even  now  is  in  the  process  of  self-adjustment  to  new  religious 
conditions,  and  only  imperfectly  understands  itself.  In  the  church, 
in  the  college,  in  the  press,  in  the  family,  unorganized  sentiment  favor- 
ing the  better  things  is  becoming  more  pronounced  and  relatively 
more  authoritative.  The  influence  of  psychology  upon  the  moral 
point  of  view  is  potent.  All  questions  affecting  personal,  domestic,  and 
social  well-being  are  restated  in  terms  suggested  by  the  new  concep- 
tions of  individuality.  And  it  is  a  beautiful  fact  that  this  aspiration 
for  a  greater  and  better  use  of  life  is  the  force  that  is  drawing  together 
those  who  differ  in  their  sectarian  affiliations,  their  theological  convic- 
tions, or  their  poHtical  opinions.     It  is  a  part  of  the  new  spirit  of  desire 


92  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

for  the  better  things  that  these  differences,  which  are  the  proper  result 
of  independence  and  inteUigence,  are  less  and  less  regarded  as  involving 
personal  alienation  or  mutual  distrust.  We  are  loving  and  honoring 
those  who  differ  from  us  in  matters  of  opinion,  because  we  are  finding 
out  that,  in  our  aspirations  for  the  triumph  of  righteousness  and  the 
spread  of  religion,  we  are  thinking  the  same  thoughts  and  praying 
the  same  prayer:  "Thy  kingdom  come;  Thy  will  be  done,  in  earth  as 
it  is  in  heaven."  I  have  been  impressed  with  this  oneness  in  aspiration, 
as  communications  have  arrived  from  institutions  differing  widely 
in  their  respective  attitudes  toward  denominational  and  critical  ques- 
tions. A  calm  review  of  the  situation,  following  a  careful  analysis  of 
extensive  data,  suggests  the  hope  that  the  moral  forces  of  the  country 
stimulated  by  large  recent  advances  in  psychological  and  social  thinking, 
are  in  a  state  of  aspiration,  if  not  of  expectancy,  waiting  for  some  direct- 
ive agency,  sufficiently  broad,  comprehensive,  non-partisan  and  wise, 
to  organize  and  apply  these  glorious  energies  upon  a  basis  of  systematic 
co-operation. 

5.  The  timeliness  0}  the  Religious  Education  Association  as  a  possible 
agent  for  the  adequate  co-ordination  of  principles  and  methods  in  the  vari- 
ous departments  of  the  field.  It  will  be  seen  that  if  this  be  the  function  of 
this  Association,  it  is  a  function  innocent  of  any  purpose  to  assume 
authority  over  institutions,  or  to  promulgate  the  opinions  of  any  school 
of  thought.  If  the  Association  were  to  assume  authority  over  institu- 
tions, or  to  appear  as  the  champion  of  opinions,  it  would  thereby  dis- 
qualify itself  from  discharging  the  duty  which  is  the  reason  for  its 
existence.  Apparently  the  psychological  moment  has  arrived  in  the 
moral  and  religious  evolution  of  our  country  when  many  mighty  forces, 
working  in  the  same  field,  for  the  same  high  ends,  need  a  medium  of 
intercommunication.  They  need  this  medium  for  mutual  self-realiza- 
tion and  for  practical,  systematic  co-operation.  Here  are  seventeen 
great  forces  working  simultaneously  for  the  moral  and  religious  develop- 
ment of  this  country:  the  Council  of  Religious  Education;  Universities 
and  Colleges;  Theological  Seminaries;  Churches  and  Pastors;  Sunday 
Schools;  Secondary  Pubhc  Schools;  Elementary  PubHc  Schools;  Pri- 
vate Schools;  Teacher  Training;  Christian  Associations;  Young  People's 
Societies;  the  Home;  Libraries;  the  Press;  Correspondence  Instruction; 
Summer  Assemblies;  Religious  Art  and  Music.  Is  it  conceivable  that 
the  best  results  can  be  obtained,  in  the  pursuit  of  the  common  end,  if 
these  seventeen  groups  of  noble  aspiration  and  endeavor  remain  segre- 
gated from  one  another  ?  Is  it  in  accordance  with  scientific  principles 
that  such  segregation  should  exist?     Is  it  not  likely  that  duplication 


THE  ANNUAL  SURVEY  OF  PROGRESS  93 

of  effort,  or  unintentional  antagonisms  and  misunderstandings,  or 
waste  of  energy  through  misdirection,  may  occur  by  reason  of  this 
segregation  of  interests  working  in  a  common  field  for  a  common 
end  ?  Is  it  not  possible  even  that  the  lack  of  correspondence  arising 
from  segregation  may  hinder  the  advance  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  ? 

The  Religious  Education  Association  appears  to  have  come,  in  the 
providence  of  God,  to  afford  relief  from  the  segregation  of  interests  that 
exist  for  a  common  end.  The  need  of  such  relief  is  seen  in  the  tendency 
toward  closer  relations  between  certain  of  the  forces  in  the  field  of 
religious  education.  Theological  seminaries  are  tending  toward  closer 
relations  with  universities;  Christian  Associations,  with  universities, 
colleges,  seminaries,  and  secondary  schools;  teacher-training  and 
libraries  are  drawing  closer  to  Sunday  schools.  These  are  examples 
of  involuntary  reciprocity  of  influences,  brought  about  by  advance  in 
the  science  of  education.  The  Religious  Education  Association  stands 
for  the  scientific  recognition  of  the  principle  of  reciprocal  influence 
between  forces  working  for  a  common  end  in  a  common  field.  It  believes 
that  this  reciprocity  is  necessary  in  order  to  mutual  self-realization  on 
the  part  of  the  co-operating  forces,  and  in  order  to  conserve  energy  for 
wise  distribution  and  intelligent  application.  It  represents  a  modern 
illustration  of  St.  Paul's  theory  of  unification  for  service  among  the 
members  of  the  body  of  Christ:  "The  eye  cannot  say  unto  the  hand,  I 
have  no  need  of  thee;  nor  again  the  head  to  the  feet,  I  have  no  need  of 
you.  God  hath  tempered  the  body  together,  that  the  members  should 
have  the  same  care  one  for  another." 

6.  An  examination  of  the  material  collected  as  the  basis  for  this 
first  "Annual  Survey"  convinces  me  that  the  Association  records  prog- 
ress in  recording  at  this  early  stage  in  its  life  an  intelligent  perception 
of  the  need  of  progress  and  the  opportunity  for  it.  It  is  to  be  borne  in 
mind  that  the  Association  stands  for  a  larger  synthesis  than  heretofore 
has  been  attempted  in  the  field  of  moral  and  religious  education.  The 
first  step  toward  the  attainment  of  this  larger  synthesis  is  the  collection 
of  evidence  showing  that  a  need  exists  for  such  synthetic  effort.  When 
the  proceedings  of  this  Convention  shall  be  published,  it  will  appear 
that  a  large  part  of  the  evidence  required  has  been  obtained.  Through 
the  study  of  this  evidence,  the  Association  shall  gain  a  clearer  knowledge 
of  the  problem  with  which  it  proposes  to  deal,  and  shall  be  in  a  position 
to  take  up  methods  of  procedure  in  view  of  the  existing  opportunity. 
So  far  as  it  is  possible  to  pronounce,  in  this  survey,  upon  the  degree  of 
encouragement  afforded  by  the  evidence  already  collected,  I  should 
say  that  it  is  very  great.     This  appears  from  the  cordial  responses  of 


94  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

those  representing  diverse  schools  of  theological  and  ecclesiastical 
opinion.  New  brotherhood  of  moral  and  religious  effort  seems  to  be 
developing,  wherein  conscientious  differences  in  matters  of  belief  and  of 
practice  no  longer  impede,  but  rather  add  freedom  and  comprehensive- 
ness to,  the  common  eagerness  of  all  good  men  to  work  together  for  the 
advancement  of  the  nation  in  righteousness  and  reverence. 

The  evidence  collected  in  these  responses  exhibits  the  large  amount 
of  sound  thinking  and  of  good  work  already  present  in  every  department 
of  the  field  of  moral  and  religious  education.  Never  was  a  nation  more 
blessed  than  ours  in  the  possession  of  right-minded  educational  leaders, 
both  men  and  women,  who  are  to  be  found  all  over  the  land,  as  moral 
and  religious  light-bearers  in  their  generation,  holding  forth,  for  the 
confirmation  or  the  correction  of  others,  ideals,  principles,  methods 
worthy  of  imitation.  To  bring  these  leaders  into  systematic  co-opera- 
tion, so  that  their  individual  earnestness  and  excellence  shall  become 
a  cumulative  force  for  the  making  and  guiding  of  right-minded  public 
opinion — this,  in  the  largest  sense  of  nonpartisan  devotion  to  the  countrv's 
good,  is  the  aim  of  the  Religious  Education  Association. 

Thus  far  I  have  sought  to  record  the  impressions  made  upon  my 
mind  by  the  great  mass  of  material  which  has  been  considered  in  the 
preparation  of  the  "Annual  Survey."  It  has  been  my  aim  to  receive, 
without  prejudice  of  any  kind,  and  to  report  as  nearly  automatically 
as  possible,  what  appears  to  be  the  present  state  of  our  problem.  I 
wish  now  to  offer  some  observations  upon  certain  specific  departments 
of  the  field  of  moral  and  religious  education,  as  such  departments  have, 
for  the  sake  of  convenience,  been  indicated  by  the  Association. 

I  do  not  regard  it  as  my  duty  to  make  this  survey  a  catalogue  of 
details,  but  rather  a  record  of  suggestive  consideration  reached  by  the 
study  of  details;  I  shall  introduce  occasional  details  merely  for  pur- 
poses of  illustration. 

I.  The  Department  of  Religious  Art  and  Music  represents  a  section 
of  the  educational  field  where  reconstructive  work  requires  to  be  done 
from  the  foundations.  The  growth  of  institutions  in  our  country  has 
been  rapid;  detached  from  historical  influences;  largely  affected  by 
considerations  of  necessity  or  expediency;  deficient  in  restraints  which 
are  imposed  by  the  adoption  of  a  carefully  thought  out  method  of  pro- 
cedure. As  a  result,  critical  observers  in  this  Department  find  themselves 
in  the  presence  of  conditions  inviting  the  most  careful  and  thorough 
reconstruction.  The  questions  involved  in  such  reconstruction  will  be, 
among  others,  the  following:   church-building,  viewed  not  in  its  mechani- 


THE  ANNUAL  SURVEY  OF  PROGRESS  95 

cal  or  sumptuary  aspects,  but  as  a  form  for  embodying  religious  senti- 
ment and  as  a  method  of  molding  that  religious  sentiment;  church 
music,  not  as  a  technical  branch  of  composition  or  performance,  but 
as  an  outlet  for  devotion,  and  as  a  constraining  and  uplifting  influ- 
ence upon  both  the  devout  and  the  undevout;  hymnody,  regarded  as 
a  channel  for  both  expression  and  impression  in  religious  services  of 
every  degree;  and,  still  further,  the  whole  literary  and  liturgical  side 
of  public  worship,  in  which  the  popular  religious  spirit  embodies  itself, 
and  by  which  in  turn  it  receives  its  form.  Upon  these  and  kindred 
questions  it  will  be  the  privilege  of  the  Religious  Education  Association 
to  work,  having  in  view  to  gain  a  correct  knowledge  of  existing  condi- 
tions, to  ascertain  what  changes  and  advances  are  desirable  in  the 
several  questions  touched  by  the  Department  of  Religious  Art  and 
Music,  and  to  advocate  methods  by  which  common  thought  and  practice 
may  be  encouraged  to  move  in  the  directions  that  may  seem  desirable. 
It  will  be  seen  that  between  this  Department  and  that  of  Churches  and 
Pastors,  and  Sunday  Schools,  comparison  of  views  and  interrelation  of 
methods  will  be  constant. 

2.  The  Department  of  Libraries  already  contributes  important  ele- 
ments to  the  general  value  of  the  Association.  Its  inquiries  have 
brought  out  suggestions  of  great  interest  touching  modes  in  which 
libraries  may  augment  (and  in  many  cases  are  augmenting)  their  effect- 
iveness in  ministering  to  the  moral  and  reHgious  education  of  com- 
munities. One  of  these  modes  consists  in  inviting  counsel  from  leading 
members  of  the  community  representing  various  faiths,  in  the  purchase 
of  books  bearing  upon  the  religious  side  of  culture.  Another  mode  of 
eflfective  library  service  appears  in  the  growing  movement  to  bring  Sun- 
day-school libraries  into  co-operative  relations  with  general  libraries — 
relations  which  are  beginning  at  certain  points  to  invest  the  Sunday- 
school  library  with  new  dignity,  making  it  a  true  instrument  of  religious 
education,  worthily  corresponding  with  the  new  pedagogical  principles 
that-  are  entering  into  the  Sunday  school. 

3.  The  Department  of  Sunday  Schools  is  engaged  in  a  field  of 
research  where  the  abundance  of  material  is  equaled  by  the  absence  of 
co-ordination  in  its  use  for  educational  ends.  Religious  earnestness, 
energy  for  organization,  zeal  for  progress,  numerical  strength,  are  at  the 
basis  of  this  institution.  But  its  application  of  power  for  educational 
result  is  as  yet  relatively  unsatisfactory.  In  every  part  of  this  country  is 
a  more  or  less  developed  conviction  that,  as  an  instrument  of  religious 
education,  the  Sunday  school  requires  to  be  brought  into  closer  corre- 
spondence with  the  established  principles  of  psychology  and  pedagogy; 


96  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

the  collection  of  data  already  in  the  possession  of  this  Department 
seems  to  show  that,  viewed  in  the  largest  relations,  the  present  state  of 
Sunday-school  development  is  tentative  and  provisional.  There  is  rea- 
son for  believing  that,  if  the  Religious  Education  Association  shall 
conduct  its  investigations  with  scientific  thoroughness,  and  shall  in  due 
course  shape  its  recommendations  with  that  freedom  from  partisanship 
which  is  worthy  of  an  organization  assuming  to  represent  all  parts  of 
the  country,  it  may  become  in  time  a  medium  through  which  this  whole 
extended  and  complex  movement  of  the  religious  training  of  youth 
shall  pass  beyond  its  present  state  of  experimentation  and  attain  com- 
plete pedagogical  self-consciousness.  In  that  way  the  Sunday  school 
shall  assume  its  rightful  place  in  the  educational  system,  and  the  Bible 
shall  wield  its  divine  influence  over  the  conduct  and  character  of  our 
youth. 

I  must  refer  in  this  connection  to  the  intimate  relation  between  the 
Department  of  Sunday  Schools  and  the  Department  of  Young  People's 
Societies.  It  is  inspiring  to  reflect  upon  the  rapid  advance  that  may 
be  made  in  the  educational  value  of  Sunday  schools,  if  complete  co-opera- 
tion of  these  cognate  interests  can  be  secured.  Development  of  Bible 
study  in  Young  People's  Societies  is  a  very  striking  feature  of  recent 
progress.  In  illustration  of  this  may  be  cited  the  remarkable  advance 
in  this  direction  during  the  last  two  years  in  the  Epworth  League  since 
the  introduction  of  the  text-books  prepared  by  the  Missionary  Society 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  The  first  of  these  text-books, 
Studies  in  the  Life  of  Christ,  was  issued  in  November,  1901.  By  the 
end  of  that  calendar  year  it  had  been  taken  up  by  295  classes  with  4,500 
members.  By  the  end  of  the  next  calendar  year  these  numbers  had  been 
increased  to  863  classes  with  13,737  members.  The  ratio  of  progress 
since  then  has  not  diminished.  It  is  easy  to  see  that  there  is  a  demand 
for  religious  education  in  the  Epworth  League  as  an  advance  upon 
the  mere  repetition  of  devotional  meetings.  The  significance  of  this 
development  of  Bible  study  outside  of  the  Sunday  school,  in  Young 
People's  Societies  and  in  Christian  Associations  seems  to  the  Religious 
Education  Association  very  great,  as  pointing  to  possible  readjustments 
of  the  highest  interest. 

Allusion  should  be  made  also  to  the  rapid  growth  of  interest  in  the 
problems  of  teacher-training  for  the  work  of  religious  education.  Evi- 
dently the  numerous  movements  of  this  kind  springing  up  within  the 
past  few  years  in  various  parts  of  the  country  point  to  an  educational 
principle  pressing  for  formulation  and  appHcation.  In  the  Bible 
Training  Schools  of  Chicago,  Nashville,  and  other  important  points  in 


THE  ANNUAL  SURVEY  OF  PROGRESS  97 

the  West,  in  the  Hartford  School  of  Religious  Pedagogy,  in  the  Exten- 
sion Courses  for  Lay  Students  at  Union  Theological  Seminary,  in  the 
courses  conducted  by  Dr.  W.  W.  White  in  New  York,  in  the  careful 
study  of  the  subject  by  the  Sunday  School  Commission  of  the  Diocese 
of  New  York,  in  the  important  work  done  in  this  direction  by  Hebrew 
educators,  and  in  many  other  recent  movements,  one  sees  the  possi- 
bihty  of  an  educational  advance  to  be  brought  about  should  the  Reli- 
gious Education  Association  be  privileged  to  draw  these  cognate,  but  at 
present  unrelated,  movements  into  systematic  co-operation,  for  the  dis- 
covery of  underlying  principles  and  for  the  promotion  of  correct  public 
opinion. 

4.  Christian  Associations:  Investigation  in  no  single  department 
of  the  field  yields  more  satisfactory  results  than  are  reached  in  the 
Department  of  Christian  Associations;  and  this  by  reason  of  the  clear- 
ness of  the  thinking  and  the  soundness  of  the  pedagogical  methods 
appearing  in  the  development  of  this  institution.  Vigorous,  alert, 
rational,  wholesome,  sympathetic,  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tion has  related  itself  to  the  moral  and  religious  education  of  the  country 
in  a  manner  and  measure  that  may  be  called  unique.  Apparently  this 
success  as  an  instrument  of  popular  religious  education  has  come  about 
through  the  sincerity  of  purpose  and  the  administrative  abihty  of  the 
leaders,  joined  with  the  fundamental  reasonableness  of  the  educational 
principles  adopted.  The  conception  of  man  as  a  unit  needing  develop- 
ment in  every  part  of  his  being,  and  the  educational  principles  that 
now  have  recognition  and  observance  in  the  Bible-study  department, 
are  the  chief  sources  of  the  remarkable  power  exhibited  by  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association.  To  these  must  be  added  the  cosmopoHtan 
spirit  which  has  expressed  itself  in  international  movements  and  in  the 
study  of  missions. 

The  principles  of  Bible  study  have  included  the  inductive  and  his- 
torical methods,  and  the  recognition  of  the  need  for  adequate  courses — 
comprehensive,  not  partial;  definite,  not  vague;  practical,  not  vision- 
ary. To  these  principles  are  added  a  rational  correlation  of  courses 
and  the  construction  of  special  courses  with  a  view  to  their  adaptation  to 
the  needs  of  special  classes  of  men,  whether  railroad  men,  shop  men, 
boys,  or  college  and  university  students.  Fifty  thousand  men  are  now 
in  the  Bible  classes  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations  in  the 
United  States  and  Canada.  The  most  significant  aspect  of  Christian 
Association  work,  from  the  point  of  view  of  a  general  survey  of  the 
field  of  religious  education,  is  its  influence  in  university  and  college 
life.     In  one  hundred  and  ten  reports  from  presidents  of  universities 


98  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

and  colleges  situated  in  all  parts  of  the  United  States,  sixty-seven 
make  extended  reference  to  the  importance  of  Christian  Association 
work  in  the  student  body,  and  in  a  large  number  of  instances  it  is  rep- 
resented that  the  religious  education  within  the  university  or  college  is 
supplied  wholly  or  in  large  part  by  the  Christian  Associations.  It  is 
also  remarkable  that  this  non-ofificial  means  of  rehgious  education  has 
been  recognized  and  is  highly  valued  in  nearly  all  the  theological  insti- 
tutions of  the  country.  In  these  institutions  a  very  rich  contribution 
has  been  made  by  the  Christian  Associations  to  an  enlightened  interest 
in  world  evangelization.  The  reflex  influence  of  mission  study  upon 
religious  education  is  found  to  be  powerful  and,  from  every  point  of 
view,  desirable. 

5.  Theological  Seminaries  present  a  most  interesting  field  of  investi- 
gation, and  the  responses  received  from  large  numbers  of  these  institu- 
tions are  made  with  a  fulness  of  detail  which  suggests  a  very  general 
interest  on  the  part  of  seminaries  in  the  possibiHties  offered  by  the 
Rehgious  Education  Association.  It  is  impossible  to  present  within 
the  body  of  this  survey  the  complex  results  of  a  comparison  of  these 
responses.  At  present  I  confine  myself  to  certain  features  of  the  situa- 
tion common  to  larger  or  smaller  groups  of  seminaries:  (i)  The  strong 
accent  placed  upon  the  maintenance  of  a  high  standard  of  personal  char- 
acter. It  is  evident  that  the  identification  of  religion  with  ethical  con- 
duct is  becoming  prominent  in  the  training  of  the  ministry.  (2)  The 
increasing  interest  in  the  study  of  apphed  ethics  and  of  social  movements 
and  conditions.  (3)  The  increasing  tendency  to  form  university  con- 
nections, bringing  theological  training  within  the  circle  of  general  cul- 
ture. This  tendency  is  by  no  means  general,  there  being  many  theologi- 
cal institutions  that  stand  for  retirement  and  detachment,  and  some  that 
advocate  the  maintenance  of  long-established  courses  of  study  upon 
the  settled  basis  of  authoritative  text-books  without  regard  to  recent 
theological  and  critical  readjustment.  (4)  The  increased  interest  in 
world-evangelization  is  marked  as  a  feature  of  recent  seminary  progress. 
The  study  of  missions  appears  to  be  gaining  a  desirable  vitality.  (5)  In 
certain  quarters  the  homiletical  discipline  is  taking  on  new  and  important 
functions.  The  accent  is  placed  less  on  the  attainment  of  formal  pre- 
cision and  more  on  the  assimilation  of  Bibhcal  conceptions.  Thie  is 
with  a  view  to  making  the  preacher  more  than  an  ethical  counselor, 
more  than  an  academic  essayist,  even  a  constructive  factor  in  rehgious 
education,  as  a  teacher  of  the  essence  of  the  Bibhcal  conceptions  in  their 
bearing  for  righteousness  and  for  inspirational  power  upon  the  condi- 
tions of  modern  life. 

6.  Universities  and  Colleges  must,  I  think,  be  regarded  as  upon  the 


THE  ANNUAL  SURVEY  OF  PROGRESS  99 

whole  strategic  points  in  any  adequate  system  of  moral  and  religious 
education  designed  to  affect  the  country  at  large.  And  this  for  two 
reasons:  (i)  because  of  their  relatively  close  association  with  each 
other  as  a  center  of  influence  distributed  throughout  the  land,  interested 
in  all  that  concerns  the  national  life,  and  conducted  by  persons  endowed 
with  a  high  grade  of  intellectual  and  moral  earnestness;  (2)  because 
of  the  significance  for  leadership  sustained  by  college-bred  men  in 
all  average  communities.  By  reason  of  the  larger  vision  acquired  in 
college  life,  and  the  advantage  for  self-knowledge  and  self-culture 
derived  from  training  in  the  hberal  arts,  it  is  to  be  expected  that  a 
corresponding  forcefulness  for  good  in  the  community  shall  result 
from  the  presence  of  men  of  broader  training  than  their  fellows.  It 
is  therefore  with  solicitude  that  one  studies  the  present  status  of  the 
problem  of  distinctively  moral  and  religious  education  in  institutions  of 
the  higher  learning.  In  making  this  investigation  I  have  been  aided 
by  the  great  courtesy  of  all  with  whom  I  have  communicated.  There 
can  be  no  question  of  the  nobility  of  the  ideals  that  are  cherished  in  our 
colleges  and  universities;  nor  of  the  positive  sympathy  on  the  part  of 
heads  of  colleges  with  whatsoever  shall  advance  morality  and  religion 
in  student  life.  Yet  when  one  considers  that  our  colleges  are  filled 
with  youths  imperfectly  acquainted  with  the  essential  truths  of  the 
Bible,  and  not  initiated  by  large  experience  into  the  moral  values  of 
those  truths  for  the  culture  of  personal  righteousness,  it  is  impossible 
to  repress  the  question:  Do  not  the  university  and  the  college  stand 
under  obligation  to  provide  officially  for  these  youths  the  means  of 
thorough  acquaintance  with  the  invaluable  material  of  moral  and  reli- 
gious education  ?  In  many  instances  I  find  that  this  provision  is 
made,  but  made  inadequately,  often  for  upper-class  men  only;  and 
where  it  is  most  adequately  made,  the  response  from  student-life  seems 
to  be  most  satisfactory.  But  a  large  study  of  the  subject  reveals  a 
striking  absence  of  uniformity  in  the  acceptance  by  colleges  and  uni- 
versities of  the  duty  to  provide  officially  for  their  students  the  oppor- 
tunities of  religious  education.  I  recognize  the  technical  difficulties 
standing  in  the  path  of  state  institutions.  Nevertheless,  the  results  of 
my  inquiries  suggest  as  a  subject  for  the  widest  and  most  impartial 
study  by  this  Association  whether,  without  any  entanglement  of  religion 
with  state  control,  without  prejudice  to  any  interest,  and  without 
invading  the  liberty  of  any  individual,  it  be  not  the  duty  of  institu- 
tions of  higher  learning,  and  of  all  secondary  schools,  public  and  private, 
to  provide  adequate  and  continuous  opportunity  for  all  their  under- 
graduates to  receive  religious  instruction  as  a  part  of  their  training  for 
citizenship. 


FIFTH    SESSION 


THE  BIBLE'S  RECOGNITION  OF  THE  SOCIAL  NEEDS  AND 
RELATIONSHIPS  OF  MAN 

PROFESSOR  FRANCIS  GREENWOOD  PEABODY,  D.D., 

HARVARD   UNIVERSITY,    CAMBRIDGE,    MASSACHUSETTS 

The  Bible  is  not  a  book  of  political  economy,  or  a  book  of  science, 
or  a  book  of  philosophy,  or  even  a  book  of  theology.  The  Bible  is  a 
Book  of  Life.  There  is,  in  the  strict  use  of  words,  no  such  thing  as 
Christian  economics,  or  Christian  sociology,  or  Christian  science.  The 
Bible,  it  was  once  said,  was  written  to  show  people  how  to  go  to  heaven, 
not  how  the  heavens  go.  The  Bible,  it  may  now  be  said,  was  not 
written  to  show  how  society  is  to  be  constructed,  but  to  give  the  motive 
power  which  makes  society  go.  A  machine,  however  perfect,  is  dead 
until  there  is  applied  to  it  the  appropriate  form  of  power,  and  the  power 
which  moves  society  is  life.  I  am  come,  says  Jesus,  not  that  they  may 
have  a  social  program,  but  that  they  may  have  life.  Jesus  Christ,  as 
Sabatier  has  lately  said,  does  not  describe  Himself  as  a  philosopher,  but 
as  a  physician.  The  Bible  is  not  a  text-book  of  celestial  or  social  mechan- 
ics, but  a  Book  of  Life. 

If,  however,  this  is  the  nature  of  the  Bible,  is  there  not  left  for  such  a 
book,  under  the  conditions  of  the  present  age,  a  restricted,  if  not  an 
antiquated,  sphere  of  usefulness  ?  A  book  whose  theme  is  life,  charac- 
ter, personality,  seems  to  be  written  for  the  individual ;  while  the  interest 
of  the  present  age  is  social,  economic,  political.  It  is  the  age  of  the  social 
question.  The  mind  of  the  age  has  been  led  from  a  Ptolemaic  concep- 
tion of  life,  where  the  single  soul  was  the  center  of  the  universe,  to  a 
Copernican  doctrine  of  life,  where  the  single  soul  is  set  like  a  planet  in  a 
larger  universe,  and  finds  its  orbit,  with  multitudes  of  other  souls,  round 
a  common  center.  Rich  people  and  poor,  scholars  at  their  desks  and 
workingmen  at  their  benches,  men  and  women,  are  giving  themselves 
as  never  before  to  problems  of  social  amelioration,  to  programs  of  social 
transformation,  to  desires  of  social  service.  Have  they,  then,  any 
further  concern  for  the  teaching  of  the  Bible  ?  As  the  horizon  of  their 
interest  expands,  must  they  not  look  for  new  guides  to  explore  the  new 
world  which  they  see  ?  Must  not  the  Book  of  Life  be  reserved  as  the 
guide  of  pious  reflection  and  personal  resolution  within  the  individual 


THE  BIBLE  AND  SOCIAL  RELATIONSHIPS  loi 

soul?  Is  not  religion  irretrievably  individualistic,  atomistic,  self- 
centered  ?  Is  it  not  a  just  statement  of  the  Christian  faith  to  affirm 
that  the  whole  duty  of  man  is  to  glorify  God  and  to  enjoy  Him 
forever  ? 

To  such  questions  it  may  be  confidently  answered  that  this  limitation 
of  the  Bible  to  its  personal  message  is  the  natural  reflection  of  an  age 
of  individualism.  One  of  the  most  striking  traits  of  the  Bible  is  its 
applicability  to  changing  conditions  and  needs,  and  a  time  which  was 
dominated  by  the  philosophy  of  individualism  found  and  utilized  the 
individualism  of  the  Bible.  As  we  enter  the  age  of  the  social  question 
another  aspect  of  the  Bible  confronts  us.  The  Bible  deals  with  social 
ethics  quite  as  directly  as  with  personal  ethics.  The  Book  of  Life  is  a 
book  of  life  in  common.  The  Lord's  Prayer  is  a  common  prayer. 
"Our  Father,"  repeats  the  Christian,  even  if  he  be  in  his  closet  with  the 
door  shut.  It  it  were  true  that  Christian  ethics  is  comprehended  by  a 
self-cultivating  and  self-assuring  faith,  then  it  would  have  to  share  the 
fate  of  the  philosophy  of  individualism,  and  would  become  a  historical 
curiosity  in  the  age  of  the  social  question.  The  fact  is,  however,  that 
the  main  stream  of  Bible  teaching  runs  not  only  through  the  experiences 
of  the  single  soul,  but  through  a  world  of  social  experiences  and  relation- 
ships, as  a  great  river  runs  between  changing  scenes  of  town  and  coun- 
try, society  and  solitude,  light  and  shade.  One  who  embarks  on  the 
current  of  the  Bible  story  floats  down  through  political  changes,  national 
problems,  social  reforms,  the  sins  and  repentance  of  Israel,  the  needs 
and  hopes  of  the  gentile  world,  until  at  last  the  stream  deepens  and  broad- 
ens, until  the  traveler  sees  before  him  the  distant  spires  of  the  city  of 
God,  rising  beyond  the  frontier  of  the  perfect  social  world.  It  is  not  an 
accident  that  when  Jesus  is  asked  to  define  the  purpose  of  His  mission 
He  cites  the  books  of  Deuteronomy  and  Leviticus,  as  though  He  would 
draw  the  two  ends  of  the  nation's  history  together  under  a  common  law. 
Still  less  is  it  an  accident  that  this  law  is  twofold,  commanding  first  the 
love  of  God,  and  secondly  the  service  of  man.  Least  of  all  is  it  an 
accident  that  Jesus  says  of  these  two  laws  that  the  second  is  like 
to  the  first;  the  first  the  inspiration  of  the  second  and  the  second 
the  corollary  of  the  first.  The  Book  of  Life  is  not  a  book  of  reli- 
gious individualism.  "For  their  sakes,"  says  the  Master  Himself,  in 
His  final  summary  of  the  law  of  duty,  "I  sanctify  myself."  "The 
Bible,"  said  John  Wesley,  "knows  nothing  of  a  solitary  religion."  To 
glorify  God  and  enjoy  Him  forever,  men  must  glorify  and  enjoy  together. 
Not  alone  through  the  seclusions  of  the  soul  at  prayer,  but  through  the 
busy  city  and  the  competing  multitudes  flows  the  river  of  hfe.     It  was 


I02  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

in  the  midst  of  the  street,  according  to  the  last  chapter  of  the  Bible,  that 
there  was  shown  the  river  of  life. 

If,  then,  the  Bible  has  a  message  for  the  age  of  the  social  question, 
what  is  the  nature  of  that  message  ?  It  cannot  be  affirmed  that  it  is  a 
uniform  teaching.  A  Book  of  Life  deals  with  a  growing,  expanding, 
living  world,  with  life  in  its  origins,  with  primitive  conditions,  with 
elementary  experiences,  with  changing  environments;  yet  the  perfect 
flower  which  at  last  issues  from  this  process  of  growth  has  its  roots  in 
these  imperfect  and  sometimes  unlovely  beginnings  of  experience.  The 
social  teaching  of  the  Bible  is  at  first  restricted  by  the  limitations  of 
Israel,  as  a  stream  is  at  first  obstructed  and  undetermined  in  its  course; 
but  the  flow  of  the  teaching  gets  momentum  in  the  Prophets  and  depth 
in  the  Psalms,  receives  its  tributaries,  deposits  its  sediment,  is  purified 
by  its  very  movement  and  change,  until  at  last  it  issues  into  the  broad 
calm  current  of  the  message  of  Jesus  Christ.  What,  then,  was  the 
nature  and  scope  of  this  final  message  in  which  the  Law  and  the  Proph- 
ets were  fulfilled  ?  What  form  and  aroma  does  this  flower  assume  whose 
roots  are  in  the  life  of  Israel?  What  is  the  social  teaching  of  Jesus 
Christ  ?  How  shall  the  disciple  of  Jesus  regard  the  pressing  and  per- 
plexing problems  of  the  modern  world  ?  These  are  the  most  immediately 
commanding  questions  with  which  we  can  in  our  day  go  to  the  Bible. 

The  answer  to  these  questions  is  not  to  be  derived  from  any  fragment- 
ary or  textual  use  of  disconnected  sayings,  but  from  one's  total  impres- 
sion of  the  purpose  of  Jesus  as  indicated  by  His  habit  of  mind  and  con- 
duct of  life.  In  one  of  His  parables,  however.  He  describes  the  nature 
of  His  social  teaching  with  such  beauty  and  such  completeness  that  His 
entire  social  mission  seems  summed  up  in  a  single  picture,  and  it  is 
sufficient  for  our  present  purpose  to  recall  this  illuminating  scene.  It 
is  one  of  the  least  considered  of  His  parables,  and  when  remembered 
it  is  as  a  rule  misapplied.  It  is  what  is  commonly  called — as  the  evange- 
lists themselves  called  it — the  parable  of  the  tares;  but,  in  fact,  the  final 
emphasis  is  not  on  the  tares,  but  on  the  good  seed  and  the  harvest. 
The  tares  indeed  are  burned,  but  the  parable  does  not  end  with  this 
disposition  of  the  weeds.  It  proceeds  to  trace  with  warmer  emphasis 
the  destiny  of  the  good  seed.  "The  righteous  shall  shine  forth,"  con- 
cludes the  parable  with  splendid  rhetoric,  "as  the  sun  in  the  kingdom 
of  their  Father."  The  parable,  then,  is  but  another  statement  of  that 
likeness,  on  which  Jesus  with  loving  reiteration  dwells,  between  His 
mission  and  the  work  of  the  sower.  On  no  other  scene  does  He  linger 
with  such  assurance  that  each  detail  is  significant.  The  stony  places, 
the  thin  earth,  the  devouring  fowls,  the  choking  thorns— all  these  condi- 


THE  BIBLE  AND  SOCIAL  RELATIONSHIPS  103 

tions  and  impediments  of  seed-time  and  harvest  made  the  grain-fields 
of  Palestine  to  Jesus  a  perpetual  symbol  of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  "Be- 
hold," He  says,  "a  sower  went  forth  to  sow,"  and  as  He  speaks  He  lifts 
His  eyes,  perhaps,  from  the  lakeside  where  He  sits,  and  points  to  some 
distant  figure  striding  along  the  hillside,  silhouetted  against  the  deep- 
blue  eastern  sky.  In  this  second  parable,  however.  He  enters  more 
profoundly  into  the  lesson  of  the  harvest.  It  is  not  of  the  single  sower 
that  He  now  speaks,  but  of  the  entire  process  of  the  farmer's  work.  It 
is  not  the  ethics  of  the  individual,  but  the  ethics  of  society,  which  He  is 
interpreting.  His  whole  social  teaching — its  scope,  its  instrument,  and 
its  end —  are  taught  by  Him  through  the  processes  of  the  growing  grain ; 
and  each  of  these  three  aspects  of  His  teaching — the  field,  the  seed,  and 
the  harvest  of  His  social  mission — lie  before  His  mind  as  plainly  as  the 
wheatfields  lay  before  His  hearers  by  the  lake  of  Galilee. 

"The  field  is  the  world" — that  is  the  scope  of  the  social  purpose  of 
Jesus.  It  is  not  alone  in  single  hearts  that  the  seed  is  to  be  sown.  The 
parable  of  the  single  sower  does  not  teach  the  whole  gospel  of  the  King- 
dom. Beyond  its  picture  of  the  single  seed  lies  this  second  scene,  where 
the  world  is  seen  as  one  great  field.  "The  world,"  as  one  of  the  most 
notable  books  of  this  generation  announces  in  its  title,  "is  the  object 
of  redemption."  "This  gospel  of  the  kingdom,"  says  Jesus,  "shall  be 
preached  in  all  the  world,"  "Go  ye  and  teach  all  nations."  The  scene 
which  lay  before  His  mind  was  not  of  some  narrow  valley  among  the 
Galilean  hills,  such  as  lay  before  His  eyes  when  He  pointed  to  the  sower 
at  his  lonely  task;  it  was  a  scene  such  as  His  eye  never  saw,  but  which 
was  plain  to  His  imagination  and  hope,  where  the  harvest  should  reach 
beyond  the  hills,  beyond  the  sea,  all-inclusive,  abundant,  secure — a 
scene  like  some  vast  level  western  plain,  where  the  grain-fields  seem 
endless,  unbounded,  sufficient  for  a  hungry  continent,  and  where  one 
says:  "The  field  is  a  world!  Here  is  enough;  blessed  are  they  that 
hunger  now,  for  they  shall  be  filled."  "The  field  is  the  world."  So 
far  at  least  the  modern  mind  is  ready  to  receive  the  teaching  of  Jesus. 
This  is  precisely  the  confession  of  the  age  of  the  social  question.  The 
field  of  modern  thought  is  the  world.  Philanthropy,  politics,  business, 
philosophy,  all  look  out  on  this  broad  horizon.  The  Christian  church 
hears,  as  never  before,  the  call  to  its  social  mission.  A  generation  ago 
the  message  which  seemed  the  whole  of  religion  was  the  message  to  the 
individual.  A  lost  world,  but  a  saved  soul;  a  wrecked  ship,  but  a  life- 
buoy flung  to  oneself;  a  field  where  acres  of  tares  must  be  piled  high  and 
burned,  so  that  here  and  there  a  precious  stalk  might  grow  to  harvest; 
that  was  the  self-considering  salvation  of  Christian  individualism.     By 


I04  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

the  great  mercy  of  God  the  Church  of  Christ  has  been  led  to  understand 
Him  better.  A  new  horizon  of  the  purpose  of  Jesus  has  come  into  view. 
It  is  not  an  outgrowing  of  His  teaching,  but  a  growing  into  it,  which  has 
brought  modern  thought  from  atomistic  ethics  to  organic  ethics.  The 
field  is  the  world !  The  purpose  of  Christ  is  a  social  as  well  as  a  personal 
redemption.  The  Church  of  Christ  has  a  legitimate  part  in  the  new 
philanthropy,  the  new  dissensions  of  industry,  the  new  national  deci- 
sions which  confront  the  modern  world.  So  far  at  least  we  have  come 
in  our  understanding  of  the  Christian  religion — from  ethical  limitation 
to  ethical  expansion;  from  the  redemption  of  the  single  soul  to  the 
redemption  of  the  social  order;  from  the  escape  out  of  a  wrecked 
world  to  the  braver  task  of  bringing  the  world  itself  safe  to  port; 
from  the  parable  of  the  sower  in  his  fenced  field  to  the  parable  whose 
first  teaching  is,  "The  field  is  the  world." 

When,  however,  we  pass  to  the  second  aspect  of  the  social  message  of 
Jesus,  a  different  confession  must  be  made.  The  field,  we  repeat,  is  the 
world,  but  what,  we  ask,  is  the  instrument  of  social  service,  the  seed 
which  must  possess  and  control  the  world  ?  The  good  seed,  answers 
Jesus,  are  the  children  of  the  Kingdom.  And  by  good  seed,  as  the 
parable  goes  on  to  show,  Jesus  does  not  mean  sentimentally  or  piously 
good.  Seed  is  not  proved  good  because  a  good  label  is  on  the  package. 
Good  seed  is  strong  seed,  with  reproductive  power,  effective,  sure  to 
grow.  Such,  says  Jesus,  are  the  children  of  the  Kingdom.  The  King- 
dom is  to  come  through  the  good  seed,  but  seed  is  not  good  unless  it  is 
good  for  something.  Good  seed  has  fertilizing  power.  The  good  seed 
of  the  Kingdom  has  capacity,  effectiveness,  serviceableness,  fruitfulness, 
applicability  to  that  field  which  is  the  world,  redemptive  power  among 
the  circumstances  of  its  time.  Does  the  social  teaching  of  Jesus,  at  this 
point,  coincide  with  the  prevailing  thought  of  the  modern  world,  or  is 
it,  on  the  contrary,  in  direct  issue  with  it  ?  How  is  it  that  social  redemp- 
tion is,  for  the  most  part,  in  our  day  proposed  ?  Is  it  not  expected  to 
arrive  through  processes  of  external,  mechanical,  political,  and  economic 
change  ?  Industrial  conditions,  we  are  taught  by  scientific  socialism, 
are  the  source  of  character.  "Man  ist  was  er  W5/."  The  ethics  and 
the  religion  of  any  civilization,  we  are  told,  are  the  product  of  its  eco- 
nomic circumstances.  Given  a  certain  rate  of  wages  and  scale  of  living, 
and  one  can  prophesy  the  civilization  and  the  ideals  which  will  ensue. 
The  world  is  not  a  field,  but  a  factory.  The  workingman  is  not  primarily 
called  to  be  good,  but  to  get  goods.  Social  mechanism  is  to  transform 
social  life. 

Now,  nothing  in  the  teaching  of  Jesus  depreciates  the  effect  of  con- 


THE  BIBLE  AND  SOCIAL  RELATIONSHIPS  105 

dition  on  character,  or  deters  the  Christian  from  the  amelioration  of 
circumstances.  The  demand  of  the  age  for  more  human  conditions  of 
industry,  for  industrial  peace,  for  stability  of  employment,  for  a  tnen- 
schenwiirdiges  Dasein,  is  a  call  to  the  magnanimity  and  consecration 
of  the  Christian  world.  Yet  when  the  teaching  of  Jesus  considers  the 
essential  instrument  of  social  progress,  it  turns  quite  another  way. 
Antecedent  to  all  stable  improvement  of  conditions  is  the  problem  of 
securing  persons  who  can  make  conditions  work  for  good.  A  golden 
age,  said  Mr.  Spencer,  cannot  be  made  of  leaden  instincts.  No  con- 
ceivable amount  of  tinkering  the  machinery  of  the  world  can  make  that 
machinery  move  if  there  be  no  motive  power.  No  fertilizing,  or  plowing, 
or  fencing  of  the  field  of  the  world  can  make  it  fruitful,  if  there  be  no 
seed.  Form  is  not  spirit;  wheels  are  not  steam;  a  field  enriched,  but  not 
yet  sown,  is  a  field  of  weeds.  And  what  is  the  power  which  Jesus  intro- 
duces into  the  mechanism  of  society?  What  is  the  good  seed  of  the 
field  which  is  the  world  ?  It  is  the  force  of  personality,  the  good  seed  of 
the  children  of  the  Kingdom.  The  salvation  of  the  world  is  not  to  be 
by  schemes  of  salvation,  but  by  saviors,  and  the  saviors  of  society  are 
persons  fit  to  be  strong,  good  seed. 

Here  is  the  most  serious  lesson  which  the  social  movement  of  the 
present  time  has  to  learn.  An  abuse  is  to  be  corrected,  a  cause  is  to  be 
enforced,  a  world  is  to  be  redeemed,  and  forthwith  we  devise  machinery 
to  do  the  work.  Let  us  legislate  and  organize,  we  say,  and  have  a 
president  and  secretary,  an  alliance,  a  congress,  a  subscription  list,  and  a 
membership  list;  and  as  the  wheels  go  around  the  work  will  be  done. 
And  why  is  not  social  redemption  accomplished  by  the  vast  movement 
of  social  mechanism,  in  which  we  are  all  so  much  involved  that  every 
man's  trade — as  Robert  Louis  Stevenson  once  said — is  that  of  a  joiner  ? 
It  is  because  human  society  is  not  a  factory,  but  a  field ;  not  a  mechanical 
unity,  but  a  vital  unity;  not  made  of  wheels,  but  made  of  people.  What 
is  needed  in  our  day,  as  never  before,  is  not  new  social  machinery,  but 
new  personahty,  more  wisdom,  sanity,  patience,  light,  capacity  to  con- 
trol the  already  elaborate  mechanism  of  the  time;  and  without  these 
traits  the  wheels  will  soon  run  down  and  the  work  be  undone,  and  the 
workers  be  smitten  with  despair;  and  the  children  of  the  Kingdom  will 
find  themselves  good  people  indeed,  but  not  good  seed,  fit  for  the  field 
of  the  modern  world. 

Does  not  the  Christian  church  especially  need  to  listen  to  this  teach- 
ing of  Jesus  ?  Devotion,  generosity,  charity,  pity— all  these  are  perma- 
nent traits  of  the  Christian  religion,  but  with  the  new  expansion  of  the 
field  of  the  church  is  there  not  laid  on  Christian  people  a  new  demand 


io6  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

for  consecrated  capacity  fit  to  occupy  that  field  ?  A  better  preparation 
for  service,  an  extension  of  the  studies  appropriate  to  the  Christian 
ministry,  a  dehvery  from  precipitancy  in  social  judgments,  a  training  of 
leaders  fit  to  give  counsel  to  the  modern  vi^orld — these  are  new  demands 
vi^hich  the  times  make  of  the  church.  Why  is  it  that  the  influence  of  the 
Christian  ministry  counts  for  less  than  it  once  did  among  the  moral  deci- 
sions and  political  problems  of  the  present  time  ?  It  is  because  the  vi^orld 
has  become  vastly  more  complex,  while  many  a  minister  deals  with  the 
world  as  though  it  were  unchanged.  This  is  the  last  of  times  when 
religious  leaders  may  speak  without  knowledge,  remain  uninstructed  in 
social  laws,  pledge  themselves  to  social  panaceas,  or  stamp  irrational 
programs  of  reform  with  the  name  of  Christ.  Yet  among  the  perplexing 
problems  of  these  last  years,  what  more  unguarded  or  more  silly  words 
have  been  spoken  than  by  well-intentioned  Christian  ministers  ?  They 
have  fancied  that  any  seed  which  pious  intention  might  sow  must  be 
good  seed,  and  their  misdirected  precipitancy  has  borne  such  social 
weeds  that  many  a  thoughtful  observer  has  been  tempted  to  say,  "An 
enemy  has  done  this."  Intemperance  in  the  name  of  temperance, 
almsgiving  in  the  place  of  charity,  industrial  Utopias  instead  of  industrial 
reforms,  political  quixotism  instead  of  political  justice — these  are  not 
the  sins  of  the  sinners,  but  the  sins  of  the  saints. 

The  only  effective  social  service  today  must  proceed  from  those  who 
are  fit  to  lead.  A  shepherd  cannot  go  before  his  sheep  if  he  does  not 
know  the  way.  Passion,  sympathy,  sacrifices — these  spiritual  traits  of 
rehgious  activity  are  as  essential  as  ever;  but  superadded  to  them,  a 
Christian  faith  should  insure  a  distinctive  quaHty  of  sanity,  wisdom, 
and  interpretative  power,  if  the  church  is  to  demonstrate,  not  only  its 
desire  to  lead,  but  its  right  to  lead.  Among  the  great  words  of  the  New 
Testament  perhaps  the  greatest  is  the  word  "power."  "His  word  was 
with  power;"  "in  manifestation  of  the  spirit  and  of  power;"  "the  power 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ" — that  was  the  impression  of  leadership, 
authority,  and  effectiveness  which  the  first  Christians  found  in  their 
Master's  teaching.  It  must  be  the  same  today.  What  the  Christian 
religion  needs  is  not  fortifying  as  an  institution,  but  utilizing  as  an  inspira- 
tion. It  is  a  form  of  power,  applicable  to  the  needs  of  the  modern 
world.  It  is  not  one  more  machine  of  social  service;  it  is  a  source  of 
power  for  social  service.  The  work  of  the  world  is  like  the  myriad 
lines  of  diverging  travel  which  radiate  through  a  city's  streets,  bearing 
the  multitudes  to  their  business  and  their  homes,  but  dependent  on  power 
from  a  power-house,  set  in  some  corner  of  the  busy  town.  That  is  the 
place  of  a  true  Christian  church.     It  is  a  power-house.     It  does  not  do 


THE  BIBLE  AND  SOCIAL  RELATIONSHIPS  107 

the  work  of  the  world,  but  it  makes  the  work  of  the  world  possible  to  do. 
It  generates  the  force  which  sends  the  people  on  their  way.  Along  the 
myriad  lines  of  modern  life  the  spiritual  dynamic  of  pure  reUgion  gives 
momentum  and  continuity  to  the  schemes  and  desires  of  the  world;  and 
the  power  goes  singing  over  the  wires:  "I  am  come  that  they  may  have 
hfe,  and  may  have  it  abundantly." 

Such  is  the  scope  and  such  is  the  instrument  of  the  social  purpose  of 
Jesus.  And  what,  finally,  is  to  be  the  end  of  His  social  teaching,  the 
harvest  of  His  social  hope  ?  How  is  it  that  the  field  which  is  the  world 
is  to  grow  white  and  the  tares  to  disappear  ?  That  is  to  happen,  answers 
this  parable,  through  the  superior  vitality  and  dominating  productive- 
ness of  the  good  seed.  It  will  prove  itself  fit  to  survive  in  the  struggle 
for  existence.  It  crowds  down  and  crowds  out  the  tares  until  they  die 
for  lack  of  sun.  In  a  flower  garden  with  its  scattered  growths  and 
empty  spaces  the  weeds  and  flowers  may  compete  on  equal  terms,  but 
when  the  field  is  the  world  there  is  no  need  of  weeding.  "Let  both 
grow  together,"  says  Jesus.  The  large  processes  of  nature  are  suflicient 
to  subdue  the  weeds.  Given  enough  strong  seed,  and  seed  that  is 
strong  enough,  and  the  less  vigorous  tares  languish  beside  the  growing 
grain,  until  at  last  the  field  weeds  itself  and  the  harvest  stands  straight 
and  white  along  the  furrows.  That  is  the  rational  optimism  of  Christian 
faith.  The  sower  is  not  a  gardener,  nursing  his  flowers  lest  they  be 
choked  by  weeds.  His  method  is  confident  and  masterful.  "He  that 
soweth  the  good  seed,"  says  the  passage,  "is  the  Son  of  man."  He 
does  not  surrender  to  the  tares;  He  does  not  pull  up  the  tares;  He  simply 
sows  good  seed;  and  one  day,  as  He  looks  across  that  field  which  is  the 
world,  behold,  instead  of  the  tares  choking  the  grain,  the  grain  has 
choked  the  tares.  Weeds  there  are  still  left  to  bind  and  burn  where  the 
field  has  been  unsown  or  its  soil  is  thin,  but  across  the  furrows  of  the 
field  the  force  of  nature  has  conspired  with  the  sower's  task,  and  the 
problem  of  evil  has  been  not  so  much  solved  as  sunk  beneath  the  growth 
of  good. 

What  a  message  of  patience  and  hope  is  this  for  the  restless  mind  of 
the  modern  world!  The  besetting  sin  of  the  reformer  is  his  impatience. 
The  world  must  be  redeemed  at  once.  "The  trouble  seems  to  be,"  said 
Theodore  Parker  of  the  anti-slavery  cause,  "that  God  is  not  in  a  hurry, 
and  I  am."  "If  my  scheme  is  not  sufficient  to  redeem  society,"  said  a 
labor  leader  not  long  ago,  "what  is  yours  ?"  as  though  every  self-respect- 
ing man  must  have  some  panacea  of  social  salvation.  The  fact  is,  how- 
ever, that  a  time  Hke  ours,  whose  symptoms  are  so  complex  and  serious, 
is  no  time  for  social  panaceas.     As  one  of  the  most  observant  of  Ameri- 


io8  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

can  students  of  society  has  remarked:  "When  I  hear  a  man  bring  for- 
ward a  solution  of  the  social  question,  I  move  to  adjourn."  Jesus  pro- 
poses no  surgical  operation  which  at  one  stroke  can  save  the  world.  He 
offers  no  assurance  that  the  tares  of  the  world  shall  be  exterminated  by 
one  sweep  of  the  scythe.  He  adds  to  faith  patience.  In  the  conflicts 
and  schemes  and  dreams  of  the  present  world  the  Christian  sees,  not 
signs  of  degeneration  as  of  a  perishing  world,  but  signs  of  the  evolution, 
through  much  friction,  pathos,  and  even  tragedy,  of  social  stabihty  and 
peace.  The  defects  of  charity  do  not  obscure  from  him  the  gradual 
growth  of  wisdom  in  charity.  The  misdirected  enthusiasm  of  temper- 
ance workers  does  not  quench  his  faith  in  temperance  work.  The  bit- 
terness of  industrial  conflicts  does  not  hide  from  him  the  hope  of  indus- 
trial peace.  He  has  been  taught  of  the  patience  of  God,  of  the  scope  of 
God's  plan,  of  the  education  of  the  human  race,  of  the  seed,  the  grain, 
and  the  harvest.  In  the  midst  of  the  feverish  programs  of  the  time  he 
says: 

One  lesson,  nature,  let  me  learn  of  thee, 
One  lesson  which  in  every  wind  is  blown, 
One  lesson  of  two  duties  kept  in  one, 

Of  toil,  unsevered  from  tranquillity. 

A  Christian  faith  is  thus  the  best  basis  for  social  optimism.  The 
Christian  is  one  who,  as  the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews  says,  "has  tasted  of 
the  powers  of  the  world  to  come."  The  tares  of  modern  life,  its  greed 
of  capital,  its  revolt  of  labor,  its  break-up  of  the  home,  its  curse  of  drink — 
these  are  not  regarded  with  the  despair  of  one  to  whom  the  world  is  an 
unconquerable  jungle,  but  with  the  hope  of  one  who  is  sure  of  the  over- 
growing and  dwarfing  of  evil  through  the  strong  growth  of  good.  Each 
wise,  just  business  method  mitigates  the  conflicts  of  labor;  each  united 
home  crowds  down  the  weed  of  divorce;  each  adequate  substitute  for 
the  saloon  crowds  out  the  solicitation  of  drink.  Weeds  are  intrinsically 
less  tenacious  and  persistent  than  good  seed.  Social  evils  are  not  to  be 
legislated  away,  or  abolished  by  statutes,  or  rooted  out  by  force;  they  are 
to  be  choked  by  the  superior  vitality  of  multiplying  good.  The  Christian 
minister  gives  himself  not  so  much  to  weeding  as  to  planting;  not  to 
contention,  but  to  creation;  not  to  protecting  his  tender  growth  from 
the  world,  but  to  setting  his  superior  stock  to  redeem  the  world.  Nor 
is  this  the  whole  of  that  process  by  which  the  good  seed  possesses  the  field. 
It  is  not  only  true  that  the  tares  are  crowded  down;  there  happens  also 
that  mysterious  transformation,  not  unknown  in  nature,  through  which 
the  tares  themselves  become  converted  and  taken  over  into  the  growth 
of  good.     Just  as  many  a  weed  under  skilful  discipline  becomes  a  gar- 


THE  BIBLE  AND  SOCIAL  RELATIONSHIPS  109 

den  flower  of  unsuspected  beauty,  so,  by  the  contagion  of  the  excellent, 
evil  is  not  only  suppressed,  but  transformed.  There  is  not  only  a  sur- 
vival of  the  fit,  but  a  corresponding  revival  of  the  unfit;  and  the  field 
which  is  the  world  blossoms,  not  only  with  the  naturally  selected  grain, 
but  also  with  the  divinely  converted  tares. 

And  when,  at  last,  the  tares  and  wheat  of  the  present  time  have  thus 
grown  together,  what  shall  be  that  final  harvest  which  the  Christian 
church  foresees,  and  for  whose  speedy  coming  we  pray  together  here  ? 
Let  me  tell  of  that  harvest  as  I  once  saw  it  before  my  eyes  in  one  remote 
corner  of  the  great  field  of  the  world.  Over  the  barren  hills  that  lie 
between  Damascus  and  the  sea  I  rode  one  day,  through  sterile  valleys 
and  squalid  villages,  where  the  huts  were  mud,  and  the  men  idle,  and 
the  women  sullen,  and  where  the  children  spat  at  one  as  he  passed; 
until  of  a  sudden  there  was  a  total  change  of  scene.  The  next  village 
was  clean  and  sweet,  and  there  were  flowers  in  the  windows,  and  children 
ran  to  greet  the  traveler,  and  the  women  asked  a  blessing  as  he  passed. 
What  was  the  meaning  of  this  social  miracle  ?  It  was  the  Christian 
village.  Fifty  years  before  there  had  been  set  by  the  sea  at  Beirut  a 
Christian  school,  and  this  village  was  fifty  miles  away,  and  I  had  reached 
the  zone  of  this  regenerating  radiation. 

About  a  mile  a  year  across  the  desolate  plain  and  over  the  sterile 
hills  the  good  seed  of  the  Kingdom  had  spread,  ripening  for  its  harvest 
and  crowding  down  the  squalor  and  hopelessness,  until  at  last  for  fifty 
miles  the  weeds  had  failed  for  lack  of  sun,  and  the  stalks  of  Christian 
self-respect  and  kindliness  stood  straight  and  full  across  the  Syrian 
plain.  It  was  a  picture  of  what  the  world  will  be  when  the  work  of  the 
sower,  who  is  the  Son  of  man,  is  done.  Through  the  great  city  where 
good  and  evil  contend  so  openly;  through  the  country  where  their  con- 
tention is  less  dramatic,  but  not  less  real ;  through  the  conflicts  of  indus- 
try and  of  politics;  through  the  perplexities  of  philanthropy  and  reform, 
walks  still  the  sower  who  is  the  Son  of  man.  He  does  not  strive  or  cry; 
His  voice  is  not  heard  in  the  street;  He  simply  sows  the  good,  strong, 
dominating  seed  of  the  children  of  the  Kingdom.  Each  wise  work 
which  they  perform,  each  settlement  and  church  and  school,  each  brave 
and  modest  ministry,  contributes  to  the  field  of  the  world  its  superior 
vitality;  until  in  the  slow  processes  of  the  providence  of  God  the  tares 
find  no  root  save  on  the  edges  of  the  field,  and  the  Master,  walking  His 
furrows,  lifts  up  His  eyes  and  sees  the  field  which  is  the  world  white 
already  for  His  harvest. 


DEPARTMENTAL    SESSIONS 


/.     THE  COUNCIL  OF   RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 


A  SCIENTIFIC  BASIS  FOR  RELIGIOUS  AND  MORAL  EDU- 
CATION, FROM  THE  STANDPOINT  OF  ETHICS 
FREDERICK  TRACY,  Ph.D., 

THE  tmiVERSITY  OF  TORONTO,  TORONTO,  CANADA 

I  shall  take  the  liberty  of  using  the  expression  "a  scientific  basis" 
in  a  somewhat  comprehensive  and  perhaps  not  altogether  accurate 
fashion.  I  shall  not  stop  now  to  draw  fine  distinctions  between  what 
might  be  called  a  scientific  and  what  might  be  called  a  philosophical 
basis  for  religious  and  moral  education,  but  shall  employ  the  term 
"scientific"  in  a  sense  wide  enough  to  include  both,  as  indeed  I  must 
if  I  am  to  discuss  the  subject  from  the  standpoint  of  ethics;  for  no  large 
question  in  education  can  be  settled  independently  of  ethical  principles, 
and  a  valid  ethical  theory  means  a  philosophy  of  human  life. 

By  "a  scientific  basis,"  then,  in  any  realm  of  action  whatever,  I 
should  simply  understand  all  knowledge  that  has  any  bearing  on  the 
achievement  of  the  end  aimed  at  in  that  realm  of  action ;  and  this  would 
include,  first  of  all,  such  a  knowledge  of  the  facts  and  laws  within  that 
realm  as  would  enable  the  worker  to  proceed  intelligently  and  effectively 
to  produce  the  result  which  he  desires;  and,  secondly,  such  a  conception 
of  the  ultimate  significance  and  worth  of  what  he  is  doing,  and  of  its 
place  in  the  whole  context  of  human  hfe  and  action,  as  would  enable 
him  to  distinguish  between  those  results  at  which  he  ought  to  aim  and 
those  at  which  he  ought  not  to  aim,  as  well  as  to  distinguish  those  results 
that  may,  from  those  that  may  not,  be  reasonably  hoped  for  in  the 
actual  conditions. 

A  scientific  basis  for  education  in  general  would  consist,  on  this 
principle,  in  a  thorough  understanding  of  the  nature  of  the  being  whom 
you  are  endeavoring  to  educate,  the  natural  laws  of  growth  pertaining 
to  his  personality,  together  with  a  clear  conception  of  what  your  aim 
really  is  and  ought  to  be,  and  of  the  nature  of  the  Hmitations  under 
which  you  labor. 

What  is  true  of  education  in  general  is  true  of  moral  and  religious 
education  in  particular.     The  religious  and  moral  teacher  requires  to 


THE  ETHICAL  BASIS  OF  EDUCATION  iii 

be  thoroughly  equipped  with  regard  to  jact  and  law  and  aim.  Without 
a  knowledge  of  the  facts,  as  we  find  them  in  the  actual  personality  of 
the  pupil  and  in  the  circumstances  surrounding  him,  our  efforts  must 
be  largely  abortive.  Without  a  knowledge  of  the  laws  that  obtain 
among  the  facts,  and  especially  with  regard  to  the  natural  order  of  devel- 
opment, we  should  be  almost  certain  to  do  violence  to  that  natural  order, 
and  proceed  along  the  line  of  greatest  instead  of  least  pedagogical 
resistance.  And  without  a  conception  of  the  end  or  ideal,  our  whole 
work  would  be  devoid  of  that  insight  and  inspiration  which  alone  can 
save  it  from  becoming  mechanical  and  mercenary  drudgery.  The 
religious  teacher  is  in  possession  of  a  complete  scientific  basis  for  his 
work  only  when  he  thoroughly  understands  what  he  is  to  do,  the  actual 
conditions  under  which  he  must  do  it,  why  he  wants  to  do  it,  and  how 
it  is  to  be  accomplished. 

These  requirements  sound  simple  enough,  but  they  are  well-nigh 
boundless  in  what  they  involve.  Complete  knowledge  of  the  pupil,  as  a 
being  capable  of  moral  and  religious  education,  would  include  the 
whole  field  of  psychology,  and  implies  everything  that  can  have  a 
bearing  on  the  development  of  the  pupil  as  a  moral  and  religious  being. 
An  adequate  conception  of  the  ideal  aim  in  education  would  require, 
not  only  a  thorough  acquaintance  with  the  best  types  of  ethical  and 
religious  character  as  they  adorn  the  pages  of  history,  both  sacred  and 
secular — especially  the  character  of  Him  in  whom  the  ideal  was  for 
the  first  time  realized  on  earth — not  only  a  thorough  acquaintance  with 
the  positive  teachings  of  the  sacred  Scriptures,  but  also  matured 
reflection  on  the  ideal  itself,  in  a  philosophical  spirit. 

These  two  things — a  knowledge  of  the  actual,  and  a  conception  of 
the  ideal — reinforce  and  illuminate  each  other.  The  conception  of  the 
ideal  comes  to  us,  not  only  through  transcendent  insight  and  prophetic 
vision;  not  solely  by  means  of  revelation,  not  solely  through  intuition, 
but  partly  by  the  study  of  the  actual.  We  divine  what  a  child  may 
become  partly  by  observing  what  he  is.  We  form  visions  of  what  our 
race  may  achieve  in  the  future  by  observing  the  course  which  its  achieve- 
ments have  taken  in  the  past.  On  the  other  hand,  the  ideal  illuminates 
the  actual.  You  really  know  what  the  pupil  is  only  when  you  have  an 
idea  of  what  he  may  be,  of  what  he  has  it  in  him  to  become.  The  facts 
and  laws  are  for  the  first  time  really  understood  when  they  are  appre- 
hended in  the  light  of  a  vision  that  reveals  the  ultimate  significance  of 
human  life. 

How  much  knowledge  have  we  now,  in  systematic  form,  bearing, 
first,  on  the  nature  of  the  moral  being  as  we  have  to  do  with  him  in 


112  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

home  and  school,  and,  secondly,  on  the  character  of  the  moral  ideal 
itself  ? 

On  both  these  questions  there  is  a  great  deal  that  we  do  not  know, 
but  also  some  things  which  we  may  affirm  with  a  measure  of  confidence. 
Psychology,  philosophy,  Bible  study,  and  Christian  experience  are  all 
co-operating  to  make  these  things  clearer  to  us. 

We  have  learned,  for  example,  something  of  the  close  and  vital 
relation  subsisting  among  the  diverse  elements  of  the  inner  hfe ;  in  other 
words,  that  the  inner  life  is  a  unity  amid  variety.  The  so-called  "facul- 
ties" are  interdependent.  The  only  thoroughfare  to  the  feelings  and 
the  will  is  by  way  of  ideation;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  nature  of  all 
knowledge-processes  is  such  as  to  involve  the  self-focus  of  attention ;  and 
this  is  volitional  in  its  essence.  Thinking  and  feeling  and  action  are 
but  different  phases  of  the  one  inner  life. 

It  follows  from  this  that  whenever  we  really  teach,  we  appeal  to  the 
entire  being  of  the  pupil.  We  make  demands  upon  his  whole  person- 
ality. The  relative  emphasis  may  vary  according  to  circumstances; 
but  there  is  no  such  thing  possible  as  purely  intellectual  culture,  or  purely 
volitional  training. 

We  have  learned  that  the  intellectual,  the  moral,  and  the  reUgious 
are  strands  in  the  single  cable  of  the  inner  life.  Moral  and  religious 
education  are  not  concerned  exclusively  with  the  will,  or  with  the 
affections,  or  with  the  understanding.  They  involve  all  of  these  in  the 
closest  relation.  The  intellectual  cannot  say  to  the  moral,  nor  the 
moral  to  the  intellectual :  "I  have  no  need  of  thee."  No  doubt  there  is 
a  marked  periodicity  in  child-development.  No  doubt  each  broad,  dis- 
tinctive phase  of  the  child's  being  has  its  own  most  favorable  season  for 
special  unfolding.  No  doubt  early  childhood  is  especially  the  period  of 
sensuous  growth,  and  early  adolescence  the  period  of  deep  moral  and 
religious  questionings.  But  we  have  learned  that  it  is  unscientific  to 
regard  these  periods  as  absolutely  separate  from  each  other,  or  to  look 
upon  these  "faculties"  as  radically  unlike  in  their  nature  and  inde- 
pendent of  one  another  in  their  operations. 

When  we  have  become  fully  and  finally  seized  of  this  great  truth, 
that  throughout  all  the  diverse  phases  and  aspects  of  his  personaHty, 
the  human  being  is  a  living  unity,  in  whom  the  intellectual  and  the 
emotional  and  the  vohtional  thoroughly  interpenetrate,  and  whose 
undivided  personaHty  is  involved  aUke  in  the  mental,  the  moral,  and  the 
rehgious,  then  we  shall  be  finally  dehvered  from  many  pedagogical 
fallacies,  and  shall  be  able  to  steer  our  course  wisely  between  two  vicious 
extremes,  one  of  which  marred  much  of  the  rehgious  teaching  of  the 


THE  ETHICAL  BASIS  OF  EDUCATION  113 

past,  while  the  other  threatens  to  mar  a  great  deal  of  the  rehgious  teach- 
ing of  the  future. 

The  first  error  is  that  of  regarding  the  religious  life  as  a  sort  of 
separate  compartment,  having  no  necessary  connection  with  the  other 
parts  of  a  man's  hfe,  such  as  buying  and  selling,  eating  and  drinking, 
marrying  and  giving  in  marriage.  The  act  of  faith  that  saves  the  soul 
is,  from  this  point  of  view,  a  sort  of  arbitrary  act  of  the  inner  man, 
having  no  necessary  connection  with  the  ordinary  functioning  of  his 
intelligence,  and  producing  its  results  exclusively  on  the  other  side  of 
the  grave.  When  this  view  of  the  Christian  life  is  held  in  this  extreme 
form,  the  chief  anxiety  seems  to  be  to  read  one's  "title  clear  to  mansions 
in  the  skies."  And  the  theoretical  question  whether  a  man  who  had 
once  secured  the  title  deed  to  those  fair  mansions  could  ever  become 
dispossessed,  is  debated  with  passionate  fervor. 

This,  of  course,  is  the  one  extreme.  By  way  of  recoil  from  that 
extreme,  we  are  now  hearing  on  all  sides  the  voice  of  the  religious  teacher, 
emphasizing  the  doctrine  that  Godhness  is  profitable  "for  the  life  that 
now  is;"  that  Christ  came  to  save  men,  not  so  much  by  and  by  in  heaven, 
as  "right  here  and  now"  on  the  earth;  to  make  men  good  citizens, 
diligent  in  business,  honest  in  all  their  dealings,  true  to  their  obligations; 
yea,  and  successful  in  their  worldly  undertakings. 

Now  this,  in  its  best  form,  is  a  healthy  reaction  against  a  vicious 
and  one-sided  view  of  the  Christian  Hfe;  but  obviously  it  may,  unless 
carefully  safeguarded,  become  a  still  more  vicious  and  one-sided  view 
than  that  to  which  it  is  opposed.  It  may  pander  to  the  basest  material- 
ism and  the  most  paralyzing  skepticism  of  our  age.  It  may  divert  men's 
attention  from  the  "mansions  in  the  skies"  only  to  fix  it  upon  the 
infinitely  less  worthy  mansions  that  are  made  by  men's  hands  and  paid 
for  with  men's  money.  It  may  encourage  a  pre-occupation  with  "the 
things  that  are  seen  and  temporal,"  to  which  the  majority  of  us  are 
already  sufficiently  prone. 

Psychology,  moral  philosophy,  Bible  study,  and  Christian  experience 
unite  to  condemn  each  of  these  one-sided  views  as  inadequate  and  mis- 
chievous, and  to  insist  that  a  true  view  of  the  Christian  life  transcends 
both,  while  it  unites  in  itself  the  essential  truth  of  each.  This  true 
view  gives  no  sanction  to  the  separation  of  the  religious  Hfe  from  the  other 
phases  of  man's  life,  nor  to  that  separation  of  "the  Hfe  that  now  is" 
from  "that  which  is  to  come"  that  encourages  absorption  in  either  to 
the  exclusion  of  the  other.  It  emphasizes  the  unity  of  man's  Hfe.  It 
declares  that  "saving  faith"  is  saving  faith  in  the  sense  that  it  secures 
the  heavenly  mansions,  and  also  in  the  sense  that  it  enters  into  the 
very  warp  and  woof  of  the  life  and  character  and  conduct  of  the  Christian 


114  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

now  and  here  on  the  earth.  It  emphasizes  good  citizenship,  but  points 
out  that  no  man  is  so  good  a  citizen  of  the  earthly  state  as  he  whose  real 
citizenship  is  in  heaven.  It  absolutely  denies  the  dualism  of  human 
Ufe,  and  bears  testimony  to  the  permanence  of  character  and  the  con- 
tinuity of  being.  It  teaches  unequivocally  that  faith  and  love  and 
purity  are  intrinsically  rather  than  extrinsically  to  be  desired,  and  that, 
in  comparison  with  personal  character,  nothing  else  in  time  or  eternity 
is  worth  while. 

But  an  objection  may  be  made,  that  in  all  this  we  have  not  shown 
how  the  moral  Hfe  and  the  religious  are  related  to  one  another.  To 
which  we  may  answer  that  from  the  standpoint  of  ethics  the  ideal 
inevitably  takes  the  form  of  personality.  Hence  the  supreme  embodi- 
ment of  that  ideal  would  be  an  absolutely  perfect  Person;  and  this  is 
what  we  mean  by  God,  and  what  we  require  for  rehgion. 

Personality  is  woven  into  the  very  fiber  of  morals.  Those  ethical 
systems  that  seek  to  dispense  with  personahty,  and  build  with  no  other 
materials  than  an  animal  organism,  and  a  variety  of  natural  forces, 
leave  unexplained  the  very  thing  that  most  of  all  presses  for  explana- 
tion, viz.,  the  recognition  of  personal  identity,  continuity,  and  respon- 
sibility. I  do  not  deny  that  a  complete  system  of  morals  might  be  built 
up  apart  from  theology;  but  I  do  maintain  that  with  the  development 
of  morality,  on  the  one  hand,  and  religion,  on  the  other,  into  their  high- 
est forms,  we  observe  a  progressive  approximation  of  the  two  toward 
each  other.  Most  heathen  religions  are  either  non-moral  or  positively 
immoral.  Judaism  is  highly  moral,  and  Christianity  is  ethical  to  the 
very  core. 

With  psychology  constantly  making  us  better  acquainted  with  the 
complicated  processes  of  the  inner  life,  and  at  the  same  time  making  it 
constantly  more  difficult  to  take  a  materialistic  view  of  the  subject  of 
that  life;  with  ethical  philosophy  rejecting  hedonism,  and  declining  to 
be  satisfied  with  any  account  of  the  moral  nature  that  makes  it  a  mere 
product  of  natural  forces;  with  metaphysical  philosophy  showing  more 
and  more  incHnation  to  explain  matter  in  terms  of  mind,  instead  of  the 
opposite  course;  with  metaphysical  theology  finding  itself  compelled 
to  ascribe  to  the  Supreme  Being,  not  only  power  and  causaHty,  but  also 
intelligence  and  personality;  with  Biblical  theology  and  psychology 
declaring  that  God  is  a  spirit,  and  that  man  is  made  in  His  image  and 
after  His  likeness;  with  Christian  experience  corroborating  all  this,  and 
finding  any  other  theory  except  that  of  the  spiritual  kinship  of  God 
and  man  insufficient  to  account  for  the  facts;  with  all  this  we  have,  it 
seems  to  me,  a  very  genuine,  though  as  yet  not  very  thoroughly  under- 
stood, "scientific  basis  for  religious  and  moral  education." 


A  SCIENTIFIC  BASIS  FOR  RELIGIOUS  AND  MORAL  EDU- 
CATION, FROM  THE  STANDPOINT  OF  THEOLOGY. 

PROFESSOR  SHAILER  MATHEWS,  A.M.,  D.D., 

THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO,  CHICAGO 

I  understand  that  by  "a  scientific  basis"  is  meant  those  conclusions 
that  are  the  result  of  scientific  investigation  of  every  sort,  which  pertain 
to  religious  and  moral  education.  The  criteria,  therefore,  are  tv^^o: 
(i)  trustworthiness  in  the  light  of  properly  conducted  research,  (2) 
pedagogical  value.  I  further  understand  that  the  education  under  con- 
sideration is  not  merely  that  of  the  Sunday  school  or  of  professedly 
Christian  institutions. 

Such  criteria  would  exclude  many  matters  which  are  taught  with 
confidence  by  various  denominations.  It  would  be  diflacult  to  hold  that 
such  theological  matters  as  foreordination,  the  Trinity,  the  person  of 
Christ,  the  location  of  heaven  and  hell,  are  suitable  to  serve  as  a  scien- 
tific basis  for  religious  and  moral  education.  If  we  are  to  have  any 
religious  education,  it  must  be  one  that  deals  with  realities,  and  not  with 
philosophies,  be  they  never  so  logical. 

From  the  point  of  view  of  theology,  four  matters  appear  to  me  to 
be  of  primary  importance  as  constituting  a  basis  of  religious  and  moral 
education : 

I.  The  universe  can  and  must  he  interpreted  in  terms  of  personality. 
This  underlies  all  theology.  And  it  is  in  this  region  that  within  the  last 
few  years  we  seem  to  have  been  gaining  most  valuable  data.  As  much 
as  anything  it  has  led  to  the  new  conception  of  God.  The  ancient 
world,  and  for  the  most  part  the  modern  religious  world,  still  thinks  of 
God  in  terms  of  king  or  mechanician.  In  such  a  view  God  is  not  merely 
transcendent;  He  is  actually  distinct  from  the  world.  Whether  admit- 
tedly or  not.  He  is  actually  located  and  spatially  distinct  from  the  world. 
Such  a  view  constantly  passes  over  either  into  deism  or  a  materialism 
which  attributes  to  matter  the  capacity  of  doing  things  deemed  impos- 
sible for  a  distant  deity  whose  very  existence  is  with  difficulty  judged 
necessary.  To  the  modern  religious  thinker  God  is  immanent.  Undis- 
mayed by  the  fear  of  pantheism,  he  sees  in  the  forces  of  the  universe 
the  expression,  not  of  a  machine,  but  of  a  living  soul.  The  mathema- 
tician and  astronomer,  whenever  they  generalize  phenomena  into  a 
mathematically  exact  law,  are  to  his  mind  bearing  testimony  to  the 
rationality  of  the  universe   itself.     The  argument   for  design   in   its 

"5 


ii6  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

original  form  may  cease  to  appeal  to  him,  but  in  its  place  he  finds  new 
data,  which  not  only  imply,  but  actually  demonstrate,  the  existence  of 
reason  everywhere. 

If  in  our  education  these  considerations  were  seriously  advanced, 
and  the  young  mind  taught  to  realize  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  argue 
from  the  universe  to  God,  but  to  see  God  in  the  universe,  it  would 
inevitably  come  under  the  controlling  concept  of  theism.  It  is  one  thing 
to  prove  to  a  young  man  or  woman  that  there  is  somewhere  a  God  con- 
trolling the  universe,  and  quite  another  to  show  them  how  reason  is 
everywhere  present  in  the  universe.  Unless  I  mistake,  it  is  the  latter 
that  is  more  easily  done,  and  when  done  will  be  possessed  of  splendid 
pedagogical  value. 

The  crying  need  of  all  our  educational  as  well  as  of  our  religious 
work  today  is  a  new  conviction  concerning  God.  The  apperception 
of  too  many  people  lacks  the  thought  of  God.  For  years  our  religious 
teachers  have  discussed  matters  of  conduct  or  refined  problems  in  the- 
ology, assuming  that  the  belief  in  God  was  either  an  intuition  or  some- 
thing so  deeply  grounded  as  not  to  require  treatment.  It  is  inevitable, 
therefore,  that  any  sharp,  intelligent  conviction  concerning  God  should 
disappear,  to  be  replaced  by  anthropomorphic  conceptions  of  His 
moral  qualities,  such  as  that  of  fatherhood,  or  by  mere  rhetorical  impres- 
sionism. From  the  point  of  view  of  theology,  the  first  step  that  religious 
education  must  take  is  to  furnish  the  children  with  a  rational,  even 
though  a  simplified,  theistic  conception. 

2.  The  moral  imperative  is  rationally  to  be  based  upon  the  existence 
oj  this  immanent  God.  It  is  one  thing  to  assume  that  a  given  statute 
for  conduct  was  formulated  by  the  Deity,  and  quite  another  to  show 
that  a  given  course  of  conduct  is  contrary  to  the  reason  and  love  exhibited 
by  this  immanent  God  in  nature.  In  the  one  case  you  have  an  extra- 
rational  morality ;  in  the  other,  right  is  seen  to  be  a  conscious  adjustment 
of  the  individual  to  his  situation,  with  a  determination  on  his  part  to 
be  one  with  the  teleological  process  in  which  he  discovers  himself 
involved.  In  dealing  with  children  it  is  of  course  necessary  to  treat 
such  matters  concretely,  but  it  is  a  great  mistake  to  assume  that  there 
should  be  two  conceptions  of  the  theistic  basis  of  morality,  the  one  for 
children,  and  the  other  for  adults.  Nothing  can  be  more  dangerous 
for  the  moral  life  than  a  conviction  that  it  is  subject  to  arbitrary  or  unin- 
telligible commands.  It  is  a  serious  mistake  to  hold  that  the  orderly 
processes  of  life,  whether  social  or  cosmic,  are  any  less  divine  than  the 
exceptional.  While  the  present  age  would  not  deny  the  possibility  of 
the  miracle,  properly  defined,  it  finds  its  strongest  theistic  arguments 


THE  THEOLOGICAL  BASIS  OF  EDUCATION  117 

in  those  things  which  occur  in  sufficient  numbers  to  be  classified.  Its 
interest  is  in  law,  not  in  apparent  exceptions  to  law. 

It  is  at  this  point  that  morality  really  appears  and  should  be  so  taught 
to  the  young.  The  will  of  God  is  to  be  seen  in  natural  and  sociological 
law.  Moral  sanctions  are  to  be  formulated  from  this  increasingly 
understood  divine  purpose.  We  want  our  children  grounded  in  the 
belief  that  such  sanctions  are  based,  not  upon  an  extra-natural  divine 
Will,  but  upon  an  immanent  divine  Will.  What  is  more,  we  want  them 
taught  that  the  wisdom  of  conforming  to  this  Will  is  not  a  matter  of  arbi- 
trary decision  by  parent  or  teacher,  but  is  solidly  grounded  in  the  eternal 
wisdom  of  the  God  of  things  as  they  are. 

3.  The  historical  Jesus  embodies  the  principles  which  should  obtain 
in  all  morality.  This  is  not  to  say  that  everyone  should  live  just  as  Jesus 
lived.  By  the  very  necessity  of  the  case.  He  was  conditioned  by  His 
age  as  we  all  are  conditioned  by  our  age.  He  was  a  Jew  of  the  first 
century,  and  not  an  Italian  of  the  thirteenth,  or  a  German  of  the  sixteenth 
or  an  Anglo-Saxon  of  the  twentieth  century.  It  would  be  an  exceed- 
ingly artificial  morality  which  would  insist  that  His  life  should  be  copied. 
It  is  not  to  be  copied;  it  is  to  be  followed.  The  principles  which  He 
embodied  in  His  surroundings  are  those  which  we  should  embody  in 
ours. 

At  this  point  we  are  not  discussing  the  matter  of  Christian  as  opposed 
to  Jewish  Christology,  or  of  orthodox  as  opposed  to  radical  theology. 
The  authority  of  the  life  and  teaching  of  Jesus  does  not  lie  in  a  meta- 
physical definition  of  His  personality,  but  in  its  agreement  with  the 
known  will  of  God.  The  unalterable  conviction  is  produced  by  it  in 
every  thoughtful  mind  that  the  Divine  mind  and  will,  if  ever  they  were 
to  be  expressed  in  the  human  individuaHty,  would  adopt  the  same 
course  of  conduct  as  that  followed  by  Jesus. 

It  is  difficult  to  see  why  the  life  of  Jesus  thus  interpreted  should  not 
be  utilized  as  a  basis  for  religious  and  moral  training.  The  process  of 
historical  criticism,  while  it  may  have  weakened  confidence  in  certain 
details  of  the  gospel  story,  has  certainly  tended  to  increase  our  confidence 
in  the  historicity  of  Jesus  Himself.  Waiving,  in  the  interest  of  harmony, 
all  Christological  questions,  we  find  in  His  teaching  material  which  is 
something  other  than  that  furnished  by  the  poet.  In  His  life  the  high- 
est ideals  and  the  noblest  self-sacrifices  are  reinforced  by  the  record  of 
His  actual  conduct.  I  am  not  saying  that  the  gospels  themselves  should 
be  used  everywhere  as  a  basis  of  religious  instruction.  They  contain 
material  which  by  the  very  nature  of  the  Christian  origin  of  the  New 
Testament  books  must  prove  distasteful  to  the  Jewish  mind.     But  I 


ii8  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

am  saying  that  the  life  of  Jesus,  as  distinct  from  the  records  of  that  life 
in  their  precise  form,  can  be  and  should  be  so  used. 

And  one  must  go  farther.  Christian  faith  and  Christian  morality 
cannot  be  divorced  from  a  certainty  of  immortality.  It  may  be  that, 
despite  the  optimism  of  the  Psychical  Research  Society,  it  is  too  early 
to  speak  of  a  scientific  demonstration  of  immortality;  but  it  is  not  too 
early  to  realize  that  the  whole  force  of  the  evolutionary  philosophy  is 
toward  immortality;  or  that,  for  the  man  who  accepts  the  historicity 
of  First  Corinthians,  there  is  historical  evidence  of  the  immortality  of 
Jesus.  It  may  be  too  soon  to  insist  that  such  a  scientific  basis  already 
exists  as  to  warrant  making  it  of  universal  application;  but  personally 
I  am  convinced  that,  just  as  humanity  was  potential  in  the  lower  orders 
of  life,  so  an  immortal,  non-animalistic  future  is  implicit  in  humanity. 
Some  day  our  moralists  will  recognize  the  supreme  value  of  this  fact. 

If  we  could  see  our  children  firmly  convinced  as  to  the  presence  of 
God  throughout  his  universe,  of  the  absolute  necessity  of  living  in  accord- 
ance with  the  Divine  will  and  mind  in  all  respects,  and  of  the  exem- 
plary worth  of  the  life  of  Jesus,  there  can  be  little  question  that  their 
moral  life  would  be  enriched  and  their  religious  life  deepened  and  made 
rational. 

4.  The  results  of  impartial  criticism  are  to  be  adopted  as  regards  the 
Bible.  This  is  not  to  say  that  one  is  to  adopt  all  the  conclusions  of  the 
most  radical  scholars.  It  is,  however,  to  say  that  the  scientific  method 
will  give  results  in  the  case  of  the  Bible  just  as  certainly  as  in  the  case  of 
any  other  collection  of  historical  matter.  It  is  also  to  say  that  the  entire 
Biblical  material  is  to  be  approached  through  the  history  from  which  it 
sprang  and  for  which  it  was  intended. 

We  have  gone  far  enough  in  our  Biblical  study  to  take  these  grounds 
with  confidence.  The  thoughtful  Christian  will  never  again  accept  the 
doctrine  of  an  absolutely  inerrant  Book  whose  every  word  was  divinely 
dictated.  The  growing  mind  should  not  be  led  to  believe  that  any 
approach  to  such  a  view  is  demanded  of  it.  One  of  the  most  serious 
injuries  which  can  be  done  a  child  is  to  ground  him  in  a  set  of  religious 
convictions  which  must  be  abandoned  rather  than  developed  in  his  later 
life.  Much  of  the  theological  reconstruction  of  the  present  consists  in 
freeing  theological  thought  from  the  traditional  doctrine  of  inspiration 
which  involved  the  accuracy  and  the  permanent  authority  of  every  ele- 
ment of  the  Bible.  Every  theological  teacher  can  testify  how  delicate 
and  often  how  tragic  the  work  is  of  adjusting  theological  belief  to  a 
growing  knowledge  of  the  universe. 

At  the  same  time,  it  would  be  a  serious  mistake  to  shut  the  Bible  out 


THE  THEOLOGICAL  BASIS  OF  EDUCATION  119 

from  religious  and  moral  instruction.  The  Bible  is  something  more 
than  the  doctrine  of  inspiration,  and  its  inspiration  is  something  far  more 
real  than  the  theory  of  a  scholastic  of  the  Middle  Ages.  No  religious 
instruction  can  be  satisfactory  which  ignores  the  Bible.  It  is  a  decided 
gain  that  the  present  state  of  criticism  permits  us  to  use  its  contents 
with  a  larger  degree  of  certainty  concerning  the  precise  situation  under 
which  particular  teachings  were  formulated  and  for  which  they  were 
intended.  It  is  the  testimony  of  every  historical  student  that  the  Bible 
has  gained  far  more  than  it  has  lost  because  of  a  generation  of  criticism. 
The  time  has  come  for  a  wise  and  constructive  use  of  critical  results  in 
instructing  the  young.  Their  faith  may  be  made  more  definite,  their 
confidence  more  secure,  and  their  devotion  to  the  things  of  the  spirit 
more  vital. 

A  God  revealed  in  his  universe,  a  morality  that  has  a  rational  as  well 
as  a  religious  basis,  a  Christ  who  embodies  such  a  morality,  and  a  Bible 
that  is  an  epitome  of  the  noblest  moral  and  religious  life  of  centuries 
that  are  past,  and  of  teachings  for  centuries  that  are  to  come — these 
seem  to  me  to  be,  from  the  point  of  view  of  theology,  four  of  the  most 
important  elements  of  a  scientific  basis  for  religious  and  moral  education. 


A  SCIENTIFIC  BASIS  FOR  RELIGIOUS  AND  MORAL  EDU- 
CATION, FROM  THE  STANDPOINT  OF  EDU- 
CATIONAL PRACTICES 

LUTHER  HALSEY  GULICK,  M.D., 

DIRECTOR  OF  PHYSICAL  EDUCATION  IN  THE  SCHOOLS  OF  GREATER  NEW  YORK,  NEW. 

YORK   CITY 

It  was  my  privilege  some  years  ago  to  question  a  number  of  Chris- 
tian business  men  as  to  the  Sunday-school  instruction  that  they  had 
received  as  boys.  My  questions  covered  the  nature  of  the  instruction, 
the  subject-matter,  the  person  of  the  teacher,  the  duration  of  the  service 
of  each  teacher,  the  personnel  of  the  class,  the  size  of  the  class,  and 
the  duration  of  class  relations.  The  answers  to  these  questions  appeared 
to  be  sufficiently  uniform  and  clear  to  warrant  certain  tentative  conclu- 
sions ;  and  these  conclusions  have  in  the  main  stood  the  test  of  subsequent 
thought,  experience,  and  research. 

I  divided  the  group  into  two  classes,  according  as  they  appeared  to 
have  been  more  or  less  affected  by  their  Sunday-school  teaching.  It 
was  then  my  endeavor  to  discover  the  respects  in  which  the  more  influ- 
enced group  differed  in  their  Sunday-school  experience  from  the  less 
influenced  group. 

1.  Subject-matter.  The  answers  to  the  questions  showed  the  great- 
est diversity  as  to  the  subject-matter  of  the  instruction.  They  were  all 
instructed  from  the  Bible  as  a  text-book,  but  the  emphasis  of  the  instruc- 
tion varied  with  the  taste  of  the  teacher.  Emphasis  was  apparently 
laid  by  some  on  the  historical  portions  of  the  Old  Testament;  by  others, 
on  the  material  facts  in  the  life  of  Christ;  by  still  others,  on  the  interpre- 
tation of  prophecy.  I  could  not  discover  any  particular  relation  between 
the  subject-matter  and  the  character-affecting  results;  that  is,  the  divi- 
sion into  the  two  groups  of  the  more  and  the  less  affected  did  not  appear 
to  correspond  to  any  classification  that  I  could  make  in  the  subject- 
matter.  It  is  true  that  the  individuals  could  recall  more  of  the  subject- 
matter  in  certain  divisions  than  in  others,  but  here  again  the  most  deeply 
affected  group  did  not  appear  to  correspond  either  positively  or  nega- 
tively with  the  group  that  had  retained  the  greatest  intellectual  quantum. 

2.  The  teacher.  The  classification  of  the  teachers  by  sex  seemed 
to  have  no  significance.  The  classification  by  learning  seemed  to  yield 
no  results.  On  this  point  positive  information  could  not  be  given. 
Still,  the  classes  taught  by  business  men  appeared  to  be  as  largely  repre- 


THE  PEDAGOGICAL  BASIS  OF  EDUCATION  121 

sented  pro  rata,  in  each  group,  as  those  taught  by  pastors,  who  pre- 
sumably had  more  technical  knowledge  of  the  Bible  than  the  business 
men. 

When  I  asked  for  facts  as  to  the  personal  character  of  the  teacher, 
a  divergence  in  the  answers  of  the  two  groups  was  evident.  One  group 
had  clear  and  most  pleasing  remembrances  of  the  teacher.  The  other 
group,  while  equally  affirming  goodness  and  the  like,  had  on  the  whole 
no  such  vivid  personal  impression.  The  effective  group  of  teachers 
were  in  the  main  social.  Not  that  they  of  necessity  emphasized  the 
deliberate  and  formal  side  of  social  life,  but  they  were  deeply  and  per- 
sonally interested  in  the  boys  individually.  They  seemed  to  desire  to 
lead  the  boys  aright  because  of  personal  friendship,  rather  than  to  estab- 
lish personal  friendship  in  order  to  do  good.  The  more  effective 
teachers  knew  the  boys  outside  of  their  Sunday-school  relations  to  a 
greater  extent  than  did  the  less  effective  group. 

In  practically  all  cases  the  boys  felt  a  sense  of  real  personal  interest 
and  intelligent  sympathy — a  sympathy  based  upon  an  appreciation  of 
the  boys'  real  nature,  temptations,  ambitions,  and  power.  The  effective 
teachers  believed  in  the  boys  they  helped.  They  often  saw  in  the  boys 
power  and  good  that  others  failed  to  see  and  even  denied.  This  belief 
was  the  turning  factor  in  a  number  of  hves.  Teachers  whose  attitude 
was  largely  one  of  opposing  evil  seemed  to  have  but  little  power. 

3.  Method.  Here  again  evidence  was  largely  negative.  Some 
teachers  had  the  pupils  place  chief  emphasis  upon  committing  to  mem- 
ory extended  portions  of  the  text ;  others,  upon  an  exact  knowledge  of 
the  sequence  of  events.     The  methods  were  exceedingly  varied. 

4.  Duration  of  teaching.  Here  the  evidence  seems  reasonably 
clear  to  the  effect  that  long  relations  between  a  teacher  and  a  pupil  had 
greater  character  effects  than  the  same  length  of  Sunday-school  experi- 
ence, but  under  a  more  rapidly  changing  group  of  teachers. 

5.  The  personaUty  of  the  class.  Classes  reasonably  homogeneous 
as  to  age,  sex,  outside  school  life,  temptations,  financial  ability,  etc., 
seemed  on  the  whole  more  affected  than  under  the  opposite  conditions. 

6.  Size  of  the  class.  Whatever  the  causes,  the  general  fact  appeared 
that  classes  which  were  very  small  or  very  large  were  on  the  whole 
inferior  to  those  of  average  size.  The  small  class  seemed  to  fail  of  that 
consciousness  of  itself  which  is  basal  to  public  opinion.  The  large 
class  was  beyond  the  capacity  of  the  teacher  to  assimilate  into  personal, 
individual  friendship  and  knowledge. 

7.  Duration  of  class  relations.  Classes  that  long  remained  together 
seemed  more  influenced  than  those  in  which  the  personnel  was  constantly 


122  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

changing.  Personal  friendships  of  a  Hfe  character  were  often  formed 
in  Sunday-school  relations.  A  body  of  class  public  opinion  seemed  to 
grow  up  in  long-continued  classes  under  strong  leadership  that  in  itself 
served  as  a  great  inducement  to  right  action  and  thought,  and  deterrent 
to  the  wrong. 

These  facts,  and  others  of  a  similar  character  which  I  have  gathered, 
seem  to  yield  certain  general  truths  which  are  basal  in  the  pedagogy  of 
religion  and  morals. 

The  metaphysical  truth  or  falsity  of  a  behef  or  practice  is  not  a  pri- 
mary factor  in  its  propagation.  It  is  of  course  important  in  the  present 
day  that  the  behef  shall  be  able  to  stand  the  test  of  reason  when  applied 
by  the  adult.  My  point  is  that  it  is  not  their  reasonableness  that  secures 
their  adoption  by  the  child — -hence  the  appeal  to  reason  as  a  chiej  factor 
in  religious  instruction  is  a  mistake.  The  religious  and  moral  attitude  is 
one  that  is  usually  established  before  the  reasoning  faculties  acquire  the 
independent  power  needed  for  the  examination  of  such  complex  subjects 
as  either  religion  or  morals. 

Even  during  the  years  of  reason  mere  intellectual  assent  is  powerless 
to  induce  belief  and  change  of  character.  Belief  is  something  that  is 
underneath  reason,  which  in  many  persons  cannot  be  established  or 
removed  by  reason. 

The  foundations  of  reHgion,  then,  appear  to  be  some  other  thing 
than  mere  intellectual  appreciation  of  truth.  This  is  fortunate,  for  other- 
wise a  permanent  basis  for  rehgious  Ufe  is  unattainable,  and  each  suc- 
cessive generation  must  with  pain  and  anguish  tear  down  a  part  of  the 
intellectual  basis  of  what  it  thought  was  reHgion  itself. 

If  religion  is  not  to  be  propagated  by  means  that  are  chiefly  intellec- 
tual in  their  nature,  we  need  to  examine  the  emotional  basis.  We  find 
that  rehgious  people  are  reverent;  that  in  the  main  there  have  been 
established  in  their  early  lives  certain  emotional  reactions  and  associa- 
tions. The  fact  of  the  praying  mother,  the  manifest  and  absolute  cer- 
tainty of  her  behef  in  God,  the  association  of  certain  tunes  and  hymns 
with  her  character,  her  constant  reaction  from  the  bad  and  toward  the 
good,  is  contagious.  It  is  my  present  conviction  that  the  sympathetic 
system  is  so  influenced  by  the  unconscious  exapiple  of  the  mother  as  to 
tend  to  react  thereafter  to  certain  rehgious  and  moral  stimuli  in  a  definite 
way,  and  that  this  accounts  for  the  return  to  the  rehgious  life  of  so  many 
who  have  Christian  mothers  and  of  so  few  who  do  not. 

I  venture  to  suggest  that  this  is  a  primary  fact  in  religious  and  moral 
pedagogy;  that  religious  feelings  and  beliefs  have  an  organic  basis  that 
is  made  by  the  attitude  and  reaction  of  those  who  surround  the  child 


THE  PEDAGOGICAL  BASIS  OF  EDUCATION  123 

during  the  earliest  years.  Children  are  most  apt  to  discover  the  "put 
on"  or  the  false.  I  doubt  if  the  attitude  and  feeUngs  of  religion  can  be 
so  well  put  on  that  children  will  copy  the  apparent  rather  than  the  real. 
This  subject  spreads  out  to  include  all  the  family  religious  ceremonial 
life:  family  prayers,  blessing  of  food,  singing  of  hymns,  personal  prayers, 
attendance  at  church,  etc.  Where  these  represent  the  real  need  and 
spiritual  life  of  the  parents  they  differ  markedly  in  effect  from  where 
they  are  carried  on  as  matters  of  form,  the  inner  life  having  departed 
from  their  observance. 

This  matter  of  fundamental  emotional  response  will  be  related  to  the 
successive  periods  of  growth.  The  influence  about  a  child  may  be  con- 
stant during  his  successive  years,  but  the  elements  in  this  environment 
to  which  he  will  respond  during  the  successive  years  of  growth  will  con- 
stantly change  their  emphasis. 

The  other  great  powers  which  deserve  to  rank  with  the  development 
of  proper  emotional  reaction  are  the  personal  habit,  social  custom,  and 
public  opinion.  Patriotism  develops  best  where  it  is  firmly  established 
as  a  custom,  where  patriotic  ideals  are  glorified,  where  examples  abound, 
where  every  evidence  of  patriotism  is  approved  of,  where  the  individual 
does  not  by  becoming  patriotic  divorce  himself  from  the  habits  and 
customs  of  those  who  constitute  the  real  world  for  him.  This  is  equally 
true  with  reference  to  religion.  The  boy  or  girl  in  the  midst  of  a  group, 
all  the  traditions  of  which  point  to  a  real  spiritual  life  for  each  one,  has 
much  more  favorable  conditions  for  developing  religious  life  than  under 
the  opposite  conditions.  Most  young  men  who  profess  conversion  need 
to  be  placed  in  a  group  of  believers  if  their  awaking  is  to  prove  lasting. 

Religion  is  a  Hfe.  In  the  main  it  is  extended  from  hfe  to  life.  The 
printed  page  and  the  spoken  word  have  their  place,  but  neither  of  these 
compares  for  a  moment  with  the  contagion  of  personal  character.  This 
power  works  under  conditions  for  the  greatest  efficiency  and  permanency 
when  it  is  allowed  to  influence  the  fundamental  organic  emotions  of  the 
young,  soUdifies  into  personal  habit,  is  established  in  social  custom 
and  is  enforced  by  public  opinion. 

It  is  not  my  desire  to  ignore  the  very  real  place  held  by  the  intellectual 
content  of  instruction  in  religion  and  morals.  What  I  wish  to  show  is, 
that  a  scientific  basis  for  reUgious  and  moral  education  must  rest  upon 
the  emotional  in  the  child;  must  be  initiated  largely  by  unconscious 
imitation,  and  can  best  be  brought  to  wholesome  growth  under  condi- 
tions favoring  personal  habit,  social  custom,  and  pubHc  opinion.  I 
yield  to  none  in  my  desire  to  have  children  intellectually  educated;  to 
have  them  know  the  truth  just  as  completely  as  it  is  possible  for  them  to 


124  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

know  it.  In  our  own  family  we  answer  the  children's  questions  on  any 
subject  whatever,  whenever  they  are  asked.  But  in  view  of  the  fact 
that  good  character  and  an  intelligent  appreciation  of  the  truth  very  often 
do  not  go  together,  I  do  not  place  general  reliance  for  character  devel- 
opment upon  intellectual  things.  Intellectual  things  are  important,  but 
secondary.  Primary  forces  are,  as  John  puts  it,  "the  word  made  flesh." 
It  is  the  spirit  of  God  in  human  lives,  for  these  are,  the  "living  epistles, 
known  and  read  of  all  men." 


//.     UNIVERSITIES  AND  COLLEGES 


THE  SUPERVISION  OF  THE  RELIGIOUS  LIFE  IN 
EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS 

PRESIDENT  RICHARD  H.  JESSE,  LL.D., 

THE   UNIVERSITY   OF   MISSOURI,    COLUMBIA,    MISSOURI 

In  the  early  times  it  was  the  business  of  the  college  president  to  watch 
personally  over  the  lives  of  his  students.  Nobly  this  service  was  ren- 
dered by  men  like  Wayland  and  Hopkins,  and  nobly  it  is  rendered  today 
by  many  presidents  of  small  colleges.  But  as  colleges  and  universities 
grow,  it  becomes  first  difficult,  and  then  impossible,  for  a  president  to 
have  much  personal  influence  over  his  students.  In  our  largest  institu- 
tions he  perhaps  does  not  know  one  student  in  twenty,  and  it  sometimes 
taxes  him  to  remember  the  names  and  faces  of  all  the  members  of  his 
teaching  staff.  He  can  still  do  much  for  his  students,  but  nearly  all 
of  it  must  be  done  through  others. 

As  professional  departments  were  added  to  universities,  the  pastoral 
function  of  the  president  was  supposed  to  descend  to  the  deans.  With 
the  growth  of  departments,  deans  find  it  difficult  if  not  impossible  to 
render  this  service. 

But  is  it  not  the  duty  of  every  teacher  to  lift  his  students  to  higher 
life  socially  and  religiously  as  well  as  intellectually?  Undoubtedly  it 
is.  But,  since  the  whole  system  of  training  ought  to  be  toward  charac- 
ter, ought  we  to  depend  solely  upon  the  general  good- will  of  teachers  and 
officers  ?  We  do  not  depend  upon  so  unstable  a  foundation  in  providing 
for  chemistry,  or  English,  or  athletics,  or  even  for  our  dining-halls. 
For  all  these  things  expert  talent  is  sought.  Are  religion  and  morals  of 
less  importance  ? 

In  one  modest  university  that  I  know  of  the  salaries  in  chemistry 
exceed  $10,000  a  year.  The  enrolment  in  this  science  last  session  was 
about  250.  The  only  money  that  the  institution  paid  that  year  specifi- 
cally for  the  religious  and  moral  betterment  of  its  students  was  $200 
toward  the  salary  of  a  secretary  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tion. The  expenditure  for  chemistry  was  justifiable,  but  Was  it  justifi- 
able to  spend  so  little  for  religion  and  morality  ?  The  same  university 
pays  the  dean  of  its  College  of  Agriculture  handsomely;  he  does  not 
teach  at  all,  but  supervises  the  work  of  his  department  and  watches 

"5 


126  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

over  every  relation  existing,  or  capable  of  existing,  between  the  college 
and  the  agricultural  interests  of  the  state.  The  same  institution  pays 
a  good  salary  to  another  man  to  supervise  its  Department  of  Education 
and  to  watch  over  the  relations  that  exist,  or  can  be  created,  between 
this  department  and  the  other  educational  forces  of  the  state.  The 
same  university  employs  at  a  good  salary  a  third  man  who  also  does  no 
teaching,  but  devotes  his  time  to  watching  over  athletics.  Now,  why 
should  this  university  not  pay  the  salary  of  a  man  capable  of  thinking 
wisely  concerning  life  on  the  campus,  and  of  marshaling  for  its  better- 
ment every  available  power  ?  And  if  the  work  proves  too  great  for  .one 
man,  why  should  he  not  have  a  staff  of  assistants  ? 

In  at  least  two  eastern  universities  the  steward  of  the  dining-hall 
receives  $3,000  or  more  a  year.  No  doubt  he  deserves  it,  but  students 
do  not  live  by  bread  alone.  The  cost  of  athletics  reaches  fabulous  sums. 
In  some  institutions  it  does  not  fall  short  of  $10,000  a  year,  not  including 
the  salaries  of  coaches  provided  by  the  students.  In  sixteen  of  our  larger 
universities  the  receipts  from  football  last  year  were  nearly  $500,000. 
I  have  no  quarrel  with  football,  but  why  should  not  a  university  be  willing 
to  spend  money  as  liberally  for  moral,  social,  and  religious  exercises  as 
for  bodily  exercises  ?  Let  it  not  seem  strange  that  I  place  side  by  side 
these  forms  of  exercise.  The  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles  in  writing  of  spirit- 
ual things  rarely  forgot  the  stadium.  I  would  that  we,  in  remembering 
the  stadium,  always  remembered  spiritual  exercises. 

The  truth  is  that  in  most  of  our  larger  institutions  of  learning  presi- 
dents and  deans  and  professors  are  not  now  generally  chosen  for  ability 
as  spiritual  leaders.  Nor  does  it  appear  how  they  can  be.  Good  charac- 
ter, scholarship,  and  administrative  ability  are  indispensable  in  presi- 
dents and  deans;  and  in  professors,  good  character,  scholarship,  ability 
to  teach,  and  productiveness  in  research.  Few  men  can  be  really  effect- 
ive at  one  time  in  several  spheres  of  activity.  A  man  profoundly  intel- 
lectual, profoundly  spiritual,  and  able  in  administration  is  exceedingly 
rare.  I  know  of  no  deans  or  presidents  that  are  not  sympathetic  toward 
religious  life,  but  if  great  power  in  spiritual  leadership  were  suddenly 
demanded  of  them  all,  many  high  offices  in  our  larger  educational  insti- 
tutions might  become  vacant.  I  know  of  very  few  professors  that  do 
not  feel  sympathy  toward  everything  that  is  good,  but  when  free  from 
constraint  they  rarely  show  much  zeal  in  spiritual  things.  Consecrated 
to  well-beloved  studies,  they  are  inclined  to  serve  God  and  their  fellow- 
men  by  scholastic  teachings,  by  erudite  writings,  and  by  blameless  lives. 

This  is  the  situation  as  I  see  it.  Some  denominational  schools  insist 
upon  evidences  of  piety  in  every  teacher,  but  their  faculties  are  rarely 


RELIGIOUS  LIFE  IN  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS      127 

foremost  in  intellectual  qualities.  To  cut  down  the  intellectual  side  of 
a  university  in  bringing  up  the  spiritual  side  is  like  robbing  Peter  to 
pay  Paul,  forgetting  that  both  Peter  and  Paul  are  apostles  of  God. 
When,  after  a  hunt  for  a  man  in  some  subject,  I  find  one  of  unblemished 
character,  who  believes  in  the  essentials  of  Christianity,  sympathizes 
with  what  it  stands  for,  and  meets  my  intellectual  requirements,  I  do  not 
reject  him  because  his  record  does  not  show  zeal  in  leading  prayer- 
meetings  and  conducting  Sunday  schools.  If  in  the  University  of 
Missouri  I  were  to  get  rid  of  every  man  that  is  not  zealous  in  behalf  of 
spiritual  life,  I  should  have  a  small  faculty  left;  yet  they  are  all  men  of 
good  character,  nearly  all  of  them  belong  to  churches,  they  are  all  in 
sympathy  with  Christianity,  and  are  willing  to  do  something  to  promote 
the  social  and  religious  life  of  the  students. 

The  same  probably  is  true  of  other  universities.  Officers  and 
teachers  are  ready  to  give  some  help  to  good  causes,  but  they  need  a 
leader  to  suggest  methods  of  work  and  to  co-ordinate  efforts.  They 
are  ready  to  do  specific  things,  but  they  are  too  busy  to  see  what  ought 
to  be  done.  To  provide  for  them  a  spiritual  leader  with  ample  time  and 
ability  ought  to  be  like  turning  a  guerrilla  band  into  an  organized  army. 
So  far  from  lessening  in  others  the  sense  of  responsibility,  a  leader  of 
the  right  sort  should  greatly  increase  it.  A  man  that  would  try  to  do 
everything  himself  and  to  march  at  the  head  of  every  procession  would 
fail.  Keeping  well  in  the  background  for  the  most  part,  he  should 
organize  and  direct  the  activities  of  others.  Above  all,  he  should  keep 
the  president,  deans,  professors,  and  students  hard  at  work  for  him. 
Would  the  other  officers  and  teachers  lay  down  their  responsibility  at  the 
feet  of  the  new  man  ?  Not  if  he  were  a  man  of  the  right  sort.  Does  a 
president  lose  interest  in  a  department  as  soon  as  it  is  placed  in  charge 
of  a  dean  ?  Does  not  a  good  dean  keep  the  president  keenly  alive  to 
the  interests  of  the  department  ?  Is  the  interest  in  athletics  diminished 
in  anyone  when  an  able  director  is  first  appointed  ?  Is  not  zeal  stimu- 
lated in  everybody  ?  So  if  the  right  leader  in  morals  were  secured,  the 
whole  university  would  become  a  laboratory  of  good  works  for  officers, 
teachers,  and  students.  Would  the  president  cease  to  be  in  spiritual 
things  the  ultimate  leader?  By  no  means.  Does  he  cease  to  be  the 
ultimate  leader  when  a  dean  is  put  over  a  new  department  ? 

The  success  of  the  experiment  would  depend  largely  upon  the  leader. 
In  some  universities  the  ideal  man  can  be  found  in  the  faculty.  In  such 
a  case  his  scholastic  work  should  be  reduced  or  made  nominal.  In  other 
institutions  it  might  be  better  to  appoint  a  new  man  and  let  him  lecture 
say  three  hours  a  week,  in  the  subject  of  his  preference.     Fortunate 


128  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

would  it  be  if  that  should  happen  to  be  the  history  and  literature  of  the 
English  Bible.  In  one  university  the  leadership  of  which  I  am  speaking 
is  exercised  largely  by  a  man  whose  title  is  secretary,  but  he  has  an  ample 
clerical  force.  Some  seem  to  think  that  concealment  of  such  a  service 
would  be  indispensable.  In  my  opinion,  if  you  get  the  right  man,  it 
makes  little  difference  whether  you  keep  him  under  cover  or  not.  Like 
a  wise  general,  he  ought  to  keep  others,  so  far  as  possible,  marching  at 
the  head  of  his  processions  and  achieving  results  for  him. 

The  spirit  of  my  contention  is  that  the  importance  of  this  service 
should  be  recognized,  and  that  ample  provision  should  be  made  for  it 
at  such  expenditure  of  money  as  may  be  necessary,  and  under  such  con- 
ditions as  the  environment  of  each  institution  may  suggest. 

Far  be  it  from  me  to  say  that  our  larger  colleges  and  universities 
are  doing  nothing  in  this  direction.  It  is  my  belief  that  Harvard  through 
the  processes  of  administration  looks  rather  well  after  the  life  of  its 
students,  and  that  Yale  and  Princeton  accomplish  much  through  college 
spirit  and  the  salutary  influence  of  the  upper  classmen  upon  the  lower 
classmen.  Much  is  done,  I  believe,  at  the  University  of  Chicago. 
Some  of  these  universities  have  chaplains.  The  noble  work  at  Oberlin 
ought  to  be  known  to  everyone.  But  Harvard,  Yale,  and  Chicago  have 
theological  seminaries  which  are  of  great  assistance,  and  Oberlin  was 
so  founded  in  piety  that  it  has  acquired  remarkable  traditions.  In 
general  in  our  older  institutions,  where  English  traditions  were  firmly 
established  long  ago,  there  is  better  care  of  student  life;  but  with  the 
Germanic  influence  that  for  half  a  century  has  largely  ruled  our  country 
educationally  there  has  come,  in  some  younger  institutions,  a  feeling 
that  after  all  a  university  has  little  to  do  with  the  life  of  its  students. 
The  German  universities  aim  chiefly  to  train  investigators,  while  the 
English  universities  aim  chiefly  to  train  men.  There  is  no  reason  why 
the  American  universities  should  not  aim  to  do  both  of  these  things. 

Many  thoughtful  people  are  inquiring  whether  it  is  wise  to  send  a 
student  from  his  high  school  at  home  into  the  multitudes  that  throng 
our  larger  colleges  and  universities.  Is  it  not  better  to  send  him  first 
to  a  small  college  that  will  watch  over  his  life  as  well  as  over  his  studies  ? 
One  reason  why  multitudes  of  people  risk  sending  immature  students 
to  large  institutions,  irrespective  of  their  watchfulness  over  the  lives  of 
students,  is  that  colleges  generally  are  either  small  and  inadequate,  or 
progressive  and  large.  As  soon  as  it  acquires  a  dozen  good  professors, 
three  or  four  well-equipped  laboratories,  a  modern  library,  a  gymnasium, 
and  respectable  dormitories,  a  college  generally  becomes  thronged  with 
students.     If  we  had  a  hundred  or  two  hundred  colleges,  excellent  in 


RELIGIOUS  LIFE  IN  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS      129 

faculty  and  equipment,  that  would  limit  their  enrolment,  the  number 
of  undergraduates  in  our  larger  institutions  would  quickly  decrease. 
Let  me  not  be  misjudged.  While  my  own  university  has  not  yet  reached 
the  enrolment  of  some  others,  it  is  large  enough  for  a  student  to  be  lost 
in  it.     It  is  not  one  of  the  smaller,  safer  institutions. 

A  hotel  that  entertains  daily  five  hundred  people  looks  after  the 
comfort  of  each  guest  more  carefully  than  the  small  hotels  generally 
do.  Railroads  that  transport  thousands  of  people  daily  care  better 
for  the  safety  and  comfort  of  their  passengers  than  those  that  carry  but 
few.  There  is  no  reason  why  a  large  institution  of  learning  may  not 
exercise  all  the  supervision  that  can  wisely  be  exercised  over  freshmen 
and  sophomores.  While  a  university  is  primarily  for  things  intellectual, 
the  best  intellectual  results  are  attainable  only  by  those  who  care  for 
their  bodies  and  order  their  lives  aright.  Faith,  hope,  humility,  truth- 
fulness, justice,  and  unselfishness  are  virtues  without  which  the  fairest 
bloom  of  scholarship  is  impossible.  The  best  things  intellectual  and 
the  best  things  spiritual  are  interwoven  like  warp  and  woof. 

Of  course,  dangers  beset  the  proposed  plan.  But  is  it  a  valid  objec- 
tion to  anything  that  by  abuse  it  may  become  a  bad  thing  ?  This  ser- 
vice might  drift  into  espionage,  or  become  the  handmaid  of  discipline; 
or  it  might  shift  into  unwholesome  paternalism;  or  it  might  rob  the 
students  of  initiative  in  good  works,  which  is  fatal.  Moreover,  the  whirr 
and  hum  of  spiritual  organization  sometimes  deaden  the  fruits  of  the 
Spirit.  If  the  president  is  not  to  be  stimulated  and  the  deans  awakened 
and  the  teachers  made  more  active,  the  proposed  scheme  is  undesirable. 
But  in  many  universities  the  present  inactivity  could  not  grow  much 
worse.  Mr.  Weller,  in  boasting  of  the  pains  he  had  spent  on  the  train- 
ing of  his  son  Samuel,  adduced  as  crowning  testimony  the  fact  that  he 
had  let  him  sleep  under  London  Bridge.  So  boast  some  institutions 
of  their  Lehrjreiheit  and  Lernjreiheit — noble  terms,  but  unfortunately 
often  abused  to  cover  indifference  to  the  attitude  of  teachers  and  to  the 
conduct  of  students. 

The  proposed  Dean  of  Manners  and  Morals  must  be  broad  enough 
to  stimulate  the  Jewish  Club,  the  Catholic  Club,  and  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association.  Personally  he  might  desire  that  every  Jew 
should  become  a  Christian,  but  as  an  officer  of  a  university  he  would 
have  no  right  to  tamper  with  anybody's  creed.  Yet  he  might  help 
Jews  to  that  righteousness  whereunto  Abraham  attained,  trusting  the 
promise  of  our  Lord — made  originally  to  Jews — that  if  any  man  will 
live  up  to  the  light  he  has  he  shall  know  of  Christian  teaching,  whether 
it  be  of  God  or  not.     Personally  he  might  long  for  all  Catholics  to  become 


I30  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

Protestants,  but  not  as  an  officer  of  a  university.  He  might,  however, 
help  Catholics  up  to  the  heights  of  holiness  whereunto  multitudes  of 
Catholics  have  climbed. 

In  my  own  university  I  would  prefer  that  this  spiritual  leader  should 
not  be  a  preacher.  The  training  of  the  clergy  is  liable  to  disqualify  a 
man  in  a  measure  for  this  service.  Preaching  is  necessarily  emphasized 
in  the  training  of  a  preacher.  The  spiritual  leader  of  a  college  should 
have  power  to  hold  his  tongue.  Then,  too,  the  pastor  acquires  the  habit 
of  marching  at  the  head  of  the  flock,  which  often  would  be  unfortunate 
in  the  leadership  I  am  speaking  of.  In  the  state  universities  there  would 
be  danger  of  bombardment  by  the  denominations  if  a  minister  of  any 
denomination  were  put  in  charge  of  this  work.  For  my  own  university  I 
would  look  for  a  layman  that  by  birthright  had  a  good  head,  a  good  heart, 
and  a  good  stomach.  Dyspepsia  might  ruin  everything.  If  he  were  an 
athlete,  he  would  suit  me  all  the  better.  The  English  develop  in  num- 
bers men  that  represent  a  muscular  Christianity  full  of  manliness. 
Many  students  will  avoid  you  if  you  come  with  a  Bible  in  your  hand. 
The  ideal  leader  must  have  the  Bible  in  his  heart,  but  sometimes  he  might 
well  have  a  boxing  glove  on  his  hand.  If  the  students  will  not  give  him 
the  highest  title  that  they  give  to  anybody — that  of  "good  fellow" — he 
will  not  achieve  the  largest  success.  His  scholarship  should  be  amply 
sufl&cient  to  maintain  his  respectability  on  the  campus,  but  his  interest 
should  be  in  men  rather  than  in  scholarly  things.  Yet  I  would  not 
have  him  divorced  from  scholastic  studies.  He  ought  to  lecture  a  few 
times  every  week,  and  ought  to  do  it  admirably.  Above  all,  he  must 
be  a  man  of  deep  personal  piety,  but  broadly  catholic. 


COURSES  BEARING  ON  THE  BIBLE  IN  PRACTICAL  AND 
INTELLECTUAL  LIFE 

PROFESSOR  BENJAMIN  W.  BACON,  D.D., 

YALE  UNIVERSITY,   NEW   HAVEN,  CONNECTICUT 

What  ideal  should  we  have  of  Biblical  literature  as  a  subject  for 
scientific  study  ?  Rightly  conceived,  this  would  determine  of  itself  the 
question  of  the  proper  place  of  the  Bible  in  the  curriculum.  Faithfully 
lived  up  to  by  the  instructor,  such  an  ideal  would  of  itself  dispel  the 
varied  prejudices  Biblical  instruction  is  wont  to  encounter. 

In  the  past  the  Bible  has  been  conceived  as  a  text-book  of  science. 
The  principle  that  it  was  given  to  teach  us  "not  how  the  heavens  go,  but 
how  to  go  to  heaven,"  although  old  as  the  persecution  of  Galileo,  has  not 
even  yet  fully  established  itself.  I  remember  from  student  days  lectures 
from  a  distinguished  geologist  who  felt  it  incumbent  on  him  to  "recon- 
cile Genesis  and  geology"  for  the  benefit  of  his  college  classes.  There 
are  still  those  who  feel  that  Scripture  must  be  regarded  as  an  authori- 
tative text-book,  superior  to  all  other  evidences,  at  least  in  the  science  of 
history.  But  the  decline  of  Bible  study  from  the  place  it  occupied  little 
more  than  a  century  ago  in  all  the  higher  institutions  of  learning  is  directly 
traceable  to  this  abuse,  this  wrong  ideal  of  Scripture  as  a  text-book  of 
science.  We  must  be  grateful  for  its  slow  but  sure  disappearance,  mak- 
ing room  for  a  less  magical,  and  therefore  more  edifying,  conception. 
The  evils  incurred  through  our  misconception  must  be  repaired  as  best 
we  can. 

Recently  we  have  witnessed  a  much  more  serious  exclusion  of  the 
Scriptures  from  the  field  of  popular  education;  and  this  too  would  not 
have  occurred  but  for  an  analogous  abuse,  or  wrong  ideal.  The  exclu- 
sion of  the  Bible  from  our  public  schools,  whatever  the  degree  of  sin- 
cerity in  those  who  procured  it  on  the  ground  that  it  was  made  the  means 
of  a  sectarian  propaganda,  would  have  lacked  even  the  needful  color  of 
plausibility  had  the  average  public-school  teacher  been  really  free  from 
the  notion  that  the  Bible  is  a  kind  of  text-book  of  theology,  a  catechism 
of  orthodox  doctrine,  perverted  by  all  sects  save  the  instructor's  own. 
A  right  ideal  of  the  place  of  Scripture  in  the  public  school  consistently 
followed  might  have  prevented  a  woful  set-back  to  real  enlightenment 
on  subjects  pertaining  to  morality  and  religion.  But  we  had  first  to 
learn  what  this  ideal  is,  and  how  BibHcal  science  should  be  taught. 

131 


132  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

Perhaps  the  reaction  may  come  when  the  notion  of  the  Bible  as  a  com- 
pendium of  standard  rehgious  doctrines,  a  text-book  of  theology,  has 
yielded  to  a  more  reasonable  faith.  Perhaps  its  beginning  may  be 
when  the  public  sees  the  right  ideal  maintained,  and  the  right  system 
of  Biblical  science  pursued  in  our  Christian  colleges  and  universities. 

How,  then,  must  we  conceive  the  Bible  as  a  subject  for  scientific 
instruction,  or,  in  its  bearing  on  practical  and  intellectual,  as  distin- 
guished from  devotional  and  religious,  life  ?  In  a  single  word,  we  must 
regard  it,  not  as  a  text-book,  but  as  a  field  of  study.  It  furnishes  the 
subject-matter  from  which  must  be  drawn  a  philosophy  of  history  from 
the  religious  point  of  view.  As  the  geologist  traces  the  development  of 
physical  life  through  ten  thousand  successive  generations  toward  the 
"human  form  divine,"  reading  the  record  of  progress  written  by  the 
finger  of  the  Creator  Himself  on  tables  of  stone,  so  the  historian  of 
religious  thought  employs  the  literature  of  past  ages  as  the  record  of 
progress  of  the  spiritual  creation.  The  canonical  literatures  of  the 
religiously  advanced  peoples  embody  successive  strata  of  human  reflec- 
tion upon  the  great  problems  of  man's  origin  and  destiny,  the  meaning 
of  existence,  and  of  the  moral  and  religious  instinct. 

Most  of  all  have  we  in  the  surviving  fragments  of  Hebrew  literature 
a  record  of  spiritual  creation  culminating  in  that  of  the  New  Testament. 
This  is  a  record  whose  goal  is  not  yet,  but  which  points  to  that  "mani- 
festation of  the  sons  of  God  for  which  the  whole  creation  groaneth  and 
travaileth  in  pain  together  until  now. "  Without  an  appreciation  of 
the  advance  of  the  moral  and  religious  consciousness  of  Israel,  through 
the  successive  stages  of  Old  Testament  literature,  we  have  no  adequate 
appreciation  of  the  consciousness  of  divine  sonship  possessed  by  Jesus 
of  Nazareth.  And  this  is  the  supreme  spiritual  fact  of  human  history. 
The  literature,  therefore,  which  exhibits  the  advance  and  culmination 
of  this  highest  religious  consciousness  of  the  race,  which  is  manifestly 
destined  to  make  conquest  of  the  world,  is  a  subject  worthy  of  the  pro- 
foundest,  most  patient,  most  critical  and  scientific  study  our  universities 
and  colleges  can  give.  Especially  have  we  in  the  New  Testament  a 
literature  wherein  Semitic  and  Aryan  religious  genius  have  combined  to 
throw  the  clearest  Ught  upon  the  divinest  drama  of  history.  The  Bibli- 
cal record  as  a  whole  deserves  the  name  "divine"  in  as  real  a  sense  as 
the  geologist's  record  of  the  rocks;  and  at  the  same  time  a  sense  as 
much  higher  as  moral  and  spiritual  development  outranks  physical 
development. 

But  science  and  religious  reverence  unite  in  the  demand  that  we  do 
justice  to  the  truly  divine  authorship  of  this  record  by  treating  it  objec- 


COLLEGE  COURSES  OF  BIBLE  STUDY 


^33 


tively.  The  interpretations  of  history  and  Hfe  which  we  find  upon  its 
pages  are  not  ultimate.  They  confessedly  differ  in  successive  ages. 
They  are  the  phenomena  with  which  a  science  of  spiritual  biology  has 
to  deal.  And  the  more  scientific,  objective,  critical,  and  historical  we 
are  in  dealing  with  them,  the  more  reverence  do  we  pay  to  the  divine 
record,  which  is  the  process  itself,  not  the  particular  interpretation 
placed  upon  the  process  by  any  particular  man  at  any  particular  time. 
Not  only  so.  We  at  the  same  time  remove  every  legitimate  obstacle  to 
making  Biblical  literature  a  subject  for  university  study.  In  fact, 
the  difficulty  will  be  rather  in  the  great  demands  it  must  make  upon  the 
keenest  and  best-trained  faculties  in  the  sphere  of  history,  archaeology, 
criticism,  and  philosophical  insight,  than  in  the  adaptation  of  the  sub- 
ject-matter to  scholastic  discipline. 

In  short,  courses  bearing  on  "The  Bible  in  Practical  and  Intellectual 
Life"  can  be  introduced  into  university  curricula  in  proportion  as  the 
study  is  conceived  and  carried  on  from  the  purely  objective,  scientific, 
critical,  and  historical  standpoint.  The  limitations  upon  the  employ- 
ment of  such  courses  will  be  only  such  as  are  intrinsic  and  self-imposed. 
As  a  matter  of  proportion,  they  must  of  course  be  adjusted  to  parallel 
investigations  into  other  domains  of  history  and  natural  science.  Some 
regard  must  perhaps  be  given  to  popular  feeling  until  a  juster  apprecia- 
tion is  manifested  of  the  scientific  value  of  Biblical  study.  But  the  lack 
of  appreciation  is  transitory.  It  is  already  yielding  to  a  new  perception 
of  the  meaning  of  historical  interpretation.  Intrinsically  there  is  no 
study  more  deserving  of  a  large  place  in  the  university  curriculum. 

But  it  may  be  answered:  This  objective,  scientific,  critical,  and 
historical  method — this  ideal  of  Biblical  study  as  an  investigation  of 
the  spiritual  process  through  which  man's  religious  consciousness  has 
been  evoked  during  the  course  of  the  ages — is  only  a  bare,  bald,  scien- 
tific inquiry.  It  involves  no  attempt  to  use  the  Bible  for  culture  of  the 
religious  life,  or  of  the  devotional  spirit.  This  is  not  what  we  under- 
stand by  Bible  study. 

True,  this  is,  in  a  sense,  mere  Biblical  Science,  and  not  Religious 
Education.  We  are  speaking  in  fact  of  university  courses  in  biblical 
literature,  not  of  Sunday-school  lessons,  nor  of  devotional  and  religious 
training  in  the  college  chapel,  or  in  the  rooms  of  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association.  But  my  contention  is  that  it  is  just  by  making 
the  courses  purely — but  not  for  that  reason  coldly,  or  unsympathetic- 
ally — scientific,  objective,  critical,  and  historical,  that  they  will  become 
most  surely  effective  in  the  interest  of  genuine  religious  culture.  The 
reUgious  culture  will  necessarily  be  incidental  and  not  direct;  it  will 


134  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

be  such  as  each  student's  own  heart  prompts  him  to  draw  from  it  in 
the  privacy  of  his  own  reflection,  not  the  morahzing  or  preaching  of 
some  representative  of  this  sect  or  that,  more  or  less  impartial,  more 
or  less  well  equipped  for  the  purpose.  And  for  that  very  reason  it 
will  of  its  own  accord  infallibly,  yet  quietly  and  without  observation, 
overcome  every  one  of  those  types  of  prejudice  that  now  confront  us. 

Manifestly  sectarian  prejudice  can  find  no  room  where  the  study 
is  a  purely  scientific  question  of  fact,  conducted  in  the  genuine  spirit 
of  impartial  historical  inquiry.  But  with  college  and  university  students, 
at  any  rate,  it  is  an  unquestionable  fact  of  experience  that  sectarian 
and  traditional  prejudice  is  at  a  minimum.  In  my  judgment,  we  have 
with  this  class  of  hearers  a  more  serious  obstacle  in  the  prejudice  which 
emanates,  consciously  or  unconsciously,  directly  or  indirectly,  from 
anti-religious  views.  The  trouble  with  your  average  student  is  not 
that  he  is  narrowly  sectarian  and  intolerant,  not  that  he  is  the  bigoted 
slave  of  tradition.  The  danger  is  rather  that  he  will  hold  Bible  study 
in  a  more  or  less  veiled  contempt,  as  a  mere  pretext  for  "preaching." 

So  long  as  any  such  impression  prevails  of  the  meaning  of  courses 
in  Biblical  Literature,  or  the  History  of  Religion,  it  would  certainly 
be  injudicious  to  give  them  any  place  among  the  required  studies. 
Most  of  all  would  it  be  unwise  if  the  mode  of  teaching  gives  any  jus- 
tification for  such  an  impression.  Professor  Moulton  has  warned  us 
above  all  things  not  to  be  guilty  of  the  hypocrisy  of  tempting  a  child 
with  the  offer  of  "a  nice  Bible  story,"  just  in  order  to  cover  up  the 
unwelcome  dose  of  some  preachment  of  our  own.  Professor  Peabody 
says  experience  at  Harvard  proves  that  what  students  want  at  prayers 
is  prayers.  Any  admixture  of  supposed  outside  interest  is  immediately 
resented  as  an  intrusion.  My  own  conviction  regarding  methods  of 
instruction  in  Biblical  Science  is  equally  strong,  and  rests,  I  believe, 
upon  grounds  just  as  logical  in  the  inverse  sense.  The  way  to  dispel 
the  most  dangerous  of  all  prejudices  against  such  courses — prejudices 
for  which  Bible  teachers  are  themselves  largely  responsible — is  this: 
When  you  teach  Biblical  Science,  let  it  be  Science,  not  a  mask  for 
preaching. 

True,  the  subject-matter  is  one  which  requires,  more  than  all  others, 
sympathetic  and  spiritual  insight  in  the  teacher.  That  is  true  with  all 
teaching  of  literature.  Unsympathetic  drill  in  the  Latin  classics  has 
given  to  many  a  boy  since  Byron  a  loathing  rather  than  a  love  for  Horace. 
How  can  English  literature  be  taught  by  mere  analysis  ?  And,  if  so, 
in  how  much  higher  degree  must  this  be  true  of  the  literature  of  reli- 
gion.    But  what  do  we  mean  by  science?     Is  it  "scientific"  to  grasp 


COLLEGE  COURSES  OF  BIBLE  STUDY  135 

the  shell  and  miss  the  kernel?  Is  it  "scientific"  to  be  unsympathetic 
with  the  essence  of  the  subject-matter  ?  I  remember  to  have  heard  it 
told  of  Wellhausen  (certainly  not  an  uncritical  or  unscientific  instructor) 
that  a  friend  met  him  hastily  wiping  his  eyes  as  he  came  from  the 
lecture-room  door,  and  inquired  as  to  the  cause.  "I  can  never  go  over 
that  fifty-first  Psalm,"  said  the  great  critic,  "without  being  so  touched 
that  I  can  hardly  conceal  it  from  the  class." 

My  colleagues,  it  will  be  almost  as  much  by  what  you  do  not  say 
as  by  what  you  say,  that  your  classes  will  get  the  deepest  benefit  in  your 
courses  in  Biblical  Science.  Let  the  aim  be  always  simply  and  purely 
scientific,  and  the  edification  be  incidental.  Permit  the  student,  each 
for  himself  and  in  his  own  way,  to  apply  to  his  own  spiritual  need 
the  inspiration  that  may  come  from  the  glory  of  the  view  of  God  mid- 
way in  his  spiritual  creation.  The  great  astronomer  Kepler,  when 
he  found  the  law  which  governs  the  revolution  of  the  planets,  fell  upon 
his  knees,  exclaiming:  "O  God,  I  am  thinking  Thy  thoughts  after 
Thee."  A  scientific  exposition  of  the  record  of  God's  revelation, 
bringing  man  at  last  to  the  consciousness  of  His  own  Fatherhood, 
should  not  need  the  factitious  aid  of  a  "Lo!  here,  Lo!  there"  from  the 
instructor,  to  make  the  student  who  has  capacity  for  such  things 
"behold  the  Kingdom  of  God." 


DISCUSSION 

PROFESSOR  HENRY  T.  FOWLER,  Ph.D., 

BROWN  UNIVERSITY,   PROVIDENCE,   RHODE   ISLAND 

If  the  Bible  is  one  of  the  world's  great  literatures,  then,  ideally,  it 
may  be  introduced  into  a  college  or  university  curriculum  just  as  far 
as  any  other  literature  of  similar  value;  if  truly  broad  culture  involves 
some  sympathetic  knowledge  of  the  life  and  thought  of  the  nations 
that  have  most  vitally  influenced  our  own  civilization,  then  those  who 
direct  the  development  of  higher  education  should  strive  toward  placing 
Biblical  courses  in  every  well-balanced  curriculum.  On  this  test  of  rela- 
tive value  we  must  rest  the  introductory  claim  of  the  Bible.  That  the 
study  of  the  Bible  which  so  generally  formed  a  part  of  undergraduate 
work  a  generation  or  two  ago  was  introduced  on  other  grounds  than  thesBj 
that  its  presence  rested  on  other  claims  than  those  which  chiefly  sup- 
ported the  classical  languages  and  literatures,  is  highly  probable.  For 
this  reason,  I  believe,  its  disappearance  may  be  explained.  During 
the  past  seventeen  or  eighteen  years  there  has  been  a  gradual  reintro- 
duction  of  Biblical  courses  in  our  colleges  and  universities.  This 
movement  is  actuated,  it  would  seem,  by  the  same  motives  that  sup- 
port the  study  of  other  literatures  and  histories,  namely,  an  apprecia- 
tion of  intellectual,  aesthetic,  and  practical  value.  Only  thus  can  the 
results  of  the  present  development  become  widespread  and  permanent. 
At  best,  the  rapidity  of  the  spread  must  be  limited  by  the  whole  force 
of  educational  tendency  and  tradition  that  has  emphasized  other  his- 
tories and  literatures  rather  than  this  one.  It  must  be  limited,  too,  by 
present  popular  feeling  as  to  the  true  function  of  the  Bible,  by  present 
interest  of  students  in  the  modern  rather  than  the  ancient,  by  present 
lack  of  suitable  teachers  and  endowments.  A  growing  recognition, 
however,  on  the  part  of  educators  of  the  true  claims  of  the  Bible  as  a 
part  of  a  liberal  education  will  steadily  overcome  these  difficulties. 

Further,  Biblical  courses  are  not  the  only  ones  in  which  traditional 
and  sectarian  views  have  to  be  more  or  less  replaced.  In  the  depart- 
ments of  political  science,  biology,  and  phflosophy,  it  is  necessary  to 
discuss  freely  facts  and  theories  opposed  to  traditional  and  partisan 
ideas;  but  if  the  methods  adopted  in  the  instruction  in  economics  be 
those  of  dogmatic  propagandism,  justifiable  offense  is  given;  if  the 
instruction  in  philosophy  or  biology  treats  with  supercilious  contempt 
views  held  by  persons  worthy  of  intellectual  and  moral  respect,  it  gives 

136 


DISCUSSION  137 

justifiable  offense;  if  instruction  in  Biblical  lines  be  given  in  the  spirit 
of  dogmatic  propagandism,  or  of  supercilious  contempt  for  views 
widely  and  honestly  held,  it,  too,  will  give  justifiable  offense. 

More  than  this,  all  who  are  in  touch  with  the  work  of  higher  edu- 
cation must  be  impressed  with  the  great  transformation  in  spirit  and 
methods  that  has  taken  place  within  the  last  twenty-five  or  even  fifteen 
years.  Objective,  scientific,  critical,  and  historical  training  has,  in 
large  measure,  replaced  authoritative  instruction  by  text-book  or  lec- 
ture. The  teacher  of  philosophy  who  imparts  his  personal  system  of 
philosophy  is  almost  extinct.  Text-books  are  being  relegated  to  a  very 
subordinate  place;  used,  perhaps,  to  offer  a  tangible  outline  for  the 
course,  while  their  statements  are  constantly  put  to  the  test  through 
reference  reading  in  many  authors,  and  the  presentation  of  different 
views  in  critical  lectures.  Students  are  encouraged  to  give  full  hear- 
ing to  diverse  points  of  view  and  to  draw  their  own  conclusions  as  to 
the  right  interpretation  of  facts  gathered  from  personal  investigation. 
If  courses  in  the  history  and  literature  of  the  Bible  are  introduced 
because  of  their  relative  value  in  world-history  and  literature,  they  can 
maintain  themselves  only  as  they  are  conducted  in  the  prevalent, 
undogmatic,  scientific  spirit.  Date,  authorship,  mode  of  composition, 
historical  credibihty,  all  such  questions,  must  be  subjected  to  the  most 
scientific,  critical,  and  historical  investigation.  The  entire  Biblical 
history  and  Hterature  as  a  part  of  the  world's  life  and  thought  must 
be  viewed  objectively  and  dispassionately. 

And  yet,  must  the  study  be  wholly  of  this  character?  This  ques- 
tion is  to  be  answered  just  as  it  would  be  if  asked  concerning  other 
great  literatures  and  histories,  unless  local  or  temporary  conditions 
require  special  temporary  methods.  There  is  a  danger,  recognized 
today,  that  the  study  of  any  literature  may  be  made  too  exclusively 
critical  and  historical.  Among  teachers  of  English  literature  the  diffi- 
culty of  maintaining  the  right  balance  between  scientific  analysis  and 
sympathetic  appreciation  is  a  grave  problem.  The  history  of  litera- 
ture— its  epochs,  order  of  development — is  taught  with  comparative 
ease  by  the  methods  of  the  present  day,  but  teachers  of  literature  rec- 
ognize that,  when  this  is  accomplished,  literature  yet  remains  untouched. 

Sympathy  with  the  thought,  the  emotions,  the  ideals  of  a  nation 
and  its  writers  is  necessary  for  a  full  appreciation  of  that  nation's  life 
and  thought.  Such  sympathy  involves  true  enthusiasm  and  love  for 
the  subject  on  the  part  of  the  instructor;  it  also  urges  him  to  lead  his 
students  into  something  of  the  same  spirit.  Ought  not  the  BibHcal 
teacher  to  realize  that  he  shares  this  double  necessity  with  the  teachers 


138  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

of  other  literatures,  and  to  be  keenly  alive  to  its  magnitude  ?  Fullest, 
deepest  sympathy  with  the  thought,  feeling,  and  ideals  of  the  writers 
must  permeate  instruction  in  Biblical  courses.  When  this  instruction 
adds  to  thorough  scientific  method  the  true  appreciative  spirit  which 
gives  itself  up  to  the  writer,  which  lives  for  the  time  with  him  and 
glories  in  his  noble  utterance  of  common  emotion — then  will  Biblical 
courses  be  a  worthy  part  of  a  curriculum. 

An  especial  danger,  however,  must  be  zealously  guarded  against. 
The  fact  that  the  most  intense  emotion  of  Biblical  literature  is  a  long- 
ing and  thirsting  after  the  living  God,  that  its  great  and  significant 
thoughts  concern  the  nature  of  God  and  man's  relation  to  Him,  makes 
it  peculiarly  difiicult  for  the  teacher  to  realize  this  higher  ideal  in  the 
class-room.  From  the  nature  of  the  subject,  he  who  enters  with  full 
sympathy  into  its  spirit  is  liable  to  forget  that  in  the  class-room  he 
is  a  teacher  of  history  and  literature,  and  not  a  preacher.  This  dan- 
ger may  compel  repression  on  the  part  of  the  true  teacher;  but  Bib- 
lical literature  has  not  been  taught  till  the  student  is  influenced,  in 
some  degree,  to  live  in  the  atmosphere  of  those  whose  writings  he  is 
studying. 

I  have  emphasized  this  conviction,  but  I  would  not  be  understood 
as  wavering  for  one  instant  from  the  position  that  scientific,  critical, 
and  historical  methods  are  fundamental,  if  we  are  to  avoid  offense. 
Only  as  these  are  made  fundamental  can  we  hope  to  lead  persons  who 
have  been  trained  in  traditional,  sectarian,  or  anti-religious  views  into 
a  true  understanding  and  appreciation  of  the  great  literature  and 
history  of  the  Bible. 

PROFESSOR  JESSE  H.  HOLMES,  Ph.D., 

SWARTHMORE   COLLEGE,   SWARTHMORE,    PENNSYLVANIA 

So  far  as  my  observation  goes,  prejudice  against  Bible  teaching  is  a 
negligible  quantity.  Students  entering  college  have  no  opinions  con- 
cerning the  Bible  which  are  seriously  offended  by  the  historical  and  scien- 
tific method  of  presentation.  Such  presentation  arouses  first  surprise 
and  curiosity,  usually  followed  by  acquiescence  and  interest.  A  great 
majority  of  entering  students  are  both  ignorant  of  and  indifferent  to  the 
Bible;  and  this  is  without  regard  to  sect.  It  seems  to  me  then  that  we 
can  largely  eliminate  the  element  of  offense,  and  reduce  the  question  to 
that  of  effective  practical  teaching.  It  is  probably  true  that  there  are 
colleges  a  larger  percentage  of  whose  patrons  would  feel  strongly  in  this 
matter.  But  a  frank,  straightforward  presentation  of  the  truth,  the 
whole  truth,  and  nothing  but  the  truth,  will  not  often  offend;  and  in  the 


DISCUSSION  139 

few  cases  where  it  does  offend,  I  believe  the  remedy  is  just  more  frank- 
ness. 

But  our  chief  problem  is  still  before  us:  the  place  of  Bible  study  in  a 
practical  college  curriculum.  Is  it  merely  another  subject  added  to  the 
list,  a  history  of  another  people,  a  study  of  another  literature  ?  If  so, 
it  takes  its  place  side  by  side  with  other  courses  and  learns  method  from 
the  experience  of  centuries  of  teaching.  In  my  judgment,  this  is  not  a  full 
statement  of  its  place.  Instead  of  merely  taking  its  stand  among  other 
studies  and  adopting  their  methods,  this  study  should  reciprocate  for 
their  gifts  of  plan  by  a  greater  gift  in  substance.  As  the  sciences,  by 
forcing  their  way  among  the  classics,  have  transformed  teaching  in  all 
branches,  so  Bible  study  should  introduce  a  new  and  truer  sense  of  pro- 
portion into  all  teaching.  The  current  historical  method  would  not 
allow  the  skin-clad  prophet  Elijah  to  overshadow  King  Ahab,  nor  the 
herdsman  Amos  to  outshine  the  great  expansionist  Jeroboam  II.  Ordi- 
nary literary  study  would  consider  the  recurrence  of  the  idea  in  the 
Psalms  rather  than  the  recurrent  idea  itself.  And  modern  criticism 
might  rest  content  with  pointing  out  myth  and  tradition  instead  of  lay- 
ing chief  emphasis  on  the  special  race  genius  which  saturated  myth, 
tradition,  poetry,  and  history  alike  with  an  unquestioning  sense  of  an 
ordered  moral  world  under  a  covenant-keeping  God. 

What  teaching  is  truly  practical  ?  The  college  of  our  grandfathers 
undertook  to  impart  a  certain  mellowness  of  culture  by  way  of  the  clas- 
sics. The  college  of  today  gives  a  man  a  broad  survey  of  human  achieve- 
ment in  many  lines  and  gives  a  basis  for  a  prosperous  life.  But  the  col- 
lege of  the  future  must  produce  a  more  unselfish  manliness,  a  higher 
nobility,  a  more  exalted  character,  than  it  has  yet  achieved.  This  will 
not  be  advanced  by  adding  another  merely  "objective,  scientific,  criti- 
cal, and  historical"  study  to  those  already  taught.  The  Bible  is  history 
and  it  is  Hterature;  it  calls  for  critical  and  scientific  study;  but  more  than 
these  it  is  a  book  in  which  is  set  forth  the  growth  and  culmination  of 
certain  ideas  and  of  certain  ideals.  These  ideas  and  ideals  constitute  its 
peculiar  value — not  the  sequences  and  coexistences  of  ordinary  history. 
And  it  is  not  enough  to  study  ahoiil  these  unique  conceptions.  They 
must  be  considered  and  assimilated  for  their  present  value.  The  study 
of  the  Bible  should  eventuate  in  principles  of  conduct  rather  than  in  the 
acquisition  of  knowledge.  The  aim  of  the  teacher  should  be  to  induce 
in  the  student  nobler  ideals — a  truer  conception  of  what  constitutes 
success  and  failure  in  life — the  knowledge  of  the  contents  of  the  Bible 
being  a  tested  and  efficient  means  toward  that  end.  To  this  end  there 
should  be  frequent  frank  and  full  discussion  of  the  principles  of  conduct 


140  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

suggested  by  the  study,  a  discussion  free  from  dogmatism  and  usually 
without  conclusions. 

I  will  go  a  step  farther — though  again  with  some  hesitation  and 
deference — in  saying  that  a  teacher  must  teach  himself.  He  should 
teach  his  honest  inferences  from  experience,  study,  reflection— that 
which  seems  to  him  true  and  vital.  If  he  is  erratic  and  unreHable,  or 
if  he  attempts  to  enforce  his  views  by  the  authority  of  his  position, 
instead  of  by  the  evidence  which  has  given  him  those  views,  he  should 
cease  to  be  a  teacher.  What  is  the  practical  truth?  Do  we  know 
things  when  we  have  weighed  and  measured  them  by  gravitation  and 
by  extension?  Must  all  energy  be  measured  solely  in  foot  pounds? 
Must  all  things  be  tested  in  terms  of  matter  and  motion  ?  Is  the  king 
or  the  prophet,  the  warrior  or  the  seer,  the  right  unit  of  history  ?  Shall 
we  best  know  humanity  by  the  thought  of  its  heart  or  by  its  external 
acts  ?  Shall  we  best  know  the  world  as  integration  of  matter  and  dis- 
sipation of  motion,  or  as  an  infinite  and  eternal  energy  which  by  its 
effect  on  man  makes  for  righteousness  ? 

I  beheve  the  teacher  of  the  Bible  should  magnify  his  office.  He  has 
to  offer  among  the  elements  of  a  college  education  one  which  is  radio- 
active and  should  affect  all  other  studies.  He  does  not  merely  introduce 
the  history  of  another  nation  along  with  that  of  the  Aztecs,  Eskimos, 
Goths,  or  Anglo-Saxons;  he  does  not  merely  present  a  new  literature  to 
be  added  to  Chinese,  Sanskrit,  Greek,  or  Latin.  He  brings  to  the 
curriculum  that  which  should  bring  about  a  shifting  of  the  center  of 
gravity  of  all  education;  which  should  put  into  the  Hves  of  students  a 
new  and  better  directing  power;  which  should  in  due  time  so  transform 
our  standards  of  value  that  men  will  see  success  in  self-control  rather 
than  in  social  prominence,  in  character  rather  than  in  acquisition. 


PRESIDENT  E.  D.  WARFIELD,  D.D.,  LL.D., 

LAFAYETTE  COLLEGE,  EASTON,  PENNSYLVANIA 

When  Dr.  William  C.  Cattell  became  president  of  Lafayette  College, 
his  brilliant  administration  of  twenty  years  was  inaugurated  by  an 
address  upon  the  Bible  in  the  college  curriculum.  He  outlined  a  plan 
which  has  been  in  successful  operation  for  forty  years,  his  successors 
having  been  in  sympathy  with  his  views  and  able  to  rejoice  in  the  steady 
growth  of  his  work. 

In  our  catalogue  an  announcement  is  made  which  I  summarize  as 
follows: 

The  Monday  morning  recitation  in  every  class  of  all  departments  is  given  to 
Biblical  instruction.  The  Freshman  class  is  divided  into  three  sections  and  takes 
a  general  survey  of  the  Bible,  with  special  attention  to  chronology,  history,  and 


DISCUSSION  141 

geography.  The  Sophomore  and  Junior  classes,  also  in  three  sections,  study  por- 
tions of  the  New  Testament — in  the  original  if  they  are  classical  students.  The 
Senior  class  is  under  the  instruction  of  the  president.  The  Bible  is  the  central 
object  of  study  throughout  the  covirse.  It  is  dealt  with  reverently  as  the  Word 
of  God,  and  as  the  inspired  and  infallible  rule  which  God  has  given  to  His  people. 

We  have  over  four  hundred  students  on  our  rolls,  about  equally 
divided  between  the  collegiate  and  the  technical  departments.  About 
half  are  Presbyterians,  the  majority  of  the  others  are  connected  with 
the  various  Protestant  churches,  but  there  are  always  Roman  Catholics 
and  Jews  and  foreigners  of  all  sorts,  as,  for  example,  in  the  present 
Freshman  class  three  non-Christian  Hindoos.  Almost  every  year  we 
have  a  request  from  an  orthodox  Jew  to  be  excused  from  the  New  Testa- 
ment study  of  the  Freshman  year.  It  is  explained  that  there  is  no 
effort  to  proselyte  and  that  it  is  important  that  educated  men  should 
know  what  others  think  of  their  own  religion.  I  have  never  known  a 
student  to  leave  college  on  account  of  our  requirement,  nor  can  I  recall 
a  request  to  be  excused  after  Freshman  year. 

The  teaching  is  entirely  constructive  and  expository.  We  study 
the  Bible;  not  theories  about  the  Bible,  nor  controversies  over  the  Bible. 
Assuming  its  truth  and  authority,  we  seek  to  teach  it.  We  endeavor  to 
familiarize  our  students  with  its  actual  contents.  That  is  the  great  need 
of  our  day.  Then  to  develop  its  lessons,  pointing  out  what  they  are. 
Only  finally  do  we  seek  to  apply  those  lessons  to  practical  life. 

Let  me  iterate  and  reiterate  the  thought  that  knov^ledge  of  the  Bible 
itself  is  the  great  lack  and  the  great  need  of  our  time. 

As  to  offending  those  of  various  prepossessions,  permit  me  to  say 
that  offense  is  rarely  given  by  the  loyal  and  reverent  presentation  of 
truth  that  is  very  dear  to  the  teacher.  The  atmosphere  of  controversy 
is  charged  with  repulsion.  The  teaching  of  critical  theories,  especially 
if  they  be  destructive,  must  always  be  open  to  offense.  I  do  not  hold 
traditional  views,  but,  taking  simple  Scriptural  views  such  as  I  find  in 
the  Bible,  I  can  give  instruction  to  those  who  hold  that  the  church  is  the 
seat  of  authority  in  religion  without  giving  offense.  I  am  as  far  as  pos- 
sible removed  from  rationalism,  but  I  can  teach  what  I  believe  to  be  the 
highly  reasonable  doctrines  of  Paul  without  offending  one  who  is  a 
rationalist.  This  can  be  done  by  showing  what  the  Bible  says;  what 
Paul  wrote.  But  if  I  turned  and  tried  to  teach  in  a  college  class  that 
every  individual  in  the  class  must  accept  my  opinion  as  true  for  him,  1 
should  give  offense.  That  application  I  leave  for  the  pulpit,  and  the 
Christian  A.ssociation,  or,  rising  to  a  higher  ground,  to  the  Holy  Spirit 
who  bears  witness  by  and  with  the  Word  in  the  hearts  of  those  instructed 
in   God's   truth. 


142  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

There  is  need,  urgent  need,  for  the  teaching  of  the  Bible,  and  it  can 
be  done  without  offense.  There  is  no  ofifense  to  be  given  by  teaching  the 
Ten  Commandments  and  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  There  is  great 
scope  for  instruction  in  the  literary  charms  of  Job,  Isaiah,  and  Hebrews. 
Above  all,  there  is  room  in  every  college  and  university  for  a  straight- 
forward exposition  of  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  true  that  some 
of  the  doctrines  found  in  the  Bible  may  give  offense,  but  not  necessarily 
the  teaching  of  them. 

I  should  not  be  faithful  to  my  vocation  if  I  did  not  say,  ere  I  conclude, 
that  I  do  not  see  how  dogmatic  teaching,  which  supports  an  anti-super- 
natural theory  of  criticism,  which  denies  veracity  to  the  Scripture  narra- 
tives, or  divinity  to  our  Savior,  can  fail  to  give  offense  to  every  Christian 
student  and  carry  alarm  into  every  Christian  home. 


RELIGIOUS  ORGANIZATIONS  AMONG  STUDENTS 

PRESIDENT  MARY  E.  WOOLLEY,  Litt.D., 

MOUNT   HOLYOKE   COLLEGE,   SOUTH   HADLEY,   MASSACHUSETTS 

How  can  the  voluntary  religious  organization  of  students  be  broad- 
ened so  as  to  represent  all  types  of  students  ?  The  question  is  not 
an  easy  one  to  answer;  in  fact,  I  shall  attempt,  not  an  answer,  but  some 
suggestions,  with  the  hope  that  they  may  be  of  help  in  the  solution  of  a 
very  real  problem. 

The  Christian  Association  should  not  be  an  exclusive  organization, 
a  religious  club,  embodying  the  "I  am  better  than  thou"  spirit;  rather 
its  keynote  should  be  service;  and  its  results,  the  development  of  the 
religious  life  of  the  individual  student,  the  co-operation  of  the  college 
community  in  those  efforts  which  make  for  righteousness,  and  the  prepa- 
ration in  training  and  interest  for  the  larger  service  following  the  under- 
graduate days. 

The  city  university  has  a  problem  quite  different  from  that  of  the 
country  college — in  many  ways  a  more  difficult  one.  It  represents  a 
larger  number  of  types,  has  less  solidarity  and  unity,  and  for  both  these 
reasons  meets  with  greater  indifference  and  actual  antagonism.  Without 
a  doubt  the  question  is  a  simpler  one  for  the  college;  but  notwithstanding 
the  differences,  there  are  lines  of  advance  which  are  parallel,  and  it  is 
with  this  thought  in  mind  that  the  question  will  be  discussed. 

The  first  step  in  interesting  various  types  of  students  is  to  provide 
various  types  of  work;  that  is,  in  working  "along  the  lines  of  least  resist- 
ance," to  borrow  an  expression  popular  in  the  educational  phraseology 
of  today,  and  win  the  student  by  gaining  his  co-operation  in  that  line  of 
effort  which  makes  the  strongest  appeal  to  him.  Associations  may  be 
and  are  many-sided  in  their  activities,  and  include  educational  and 
social  movements  quite  as  legitimately  as  those  which  are  considered 
more  distinctively  religious. 

The  city  university  has  the  advantage  of  a  wider  field  and  unlimited 
opportunities  for  broadening  the  work  and  aims  of  the  Christian  Asso- 
ciation, and  for  interesting  the  different  types  of  students;  but  the  country 
college  has  no  dearth  of  opportunities,  if  the  eyes  are  but  open  to  see 
them.  Clubs  for  the  shop  girls  in  the  neighboring  town,  or  for  the  chil- 
dren of  the  tenement  house;  classes  in  athletics,  in  literature,  or  in  the 
Bible;  an  effort  to  assist  the  poor  students  of  the  college  by  opening  an 
exchange  for  work,  or  to  bring  Christian  education  within  the  reach 

143 


144  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

of  young  men  and  women  in  the  far  East  by  supporting  teachers  or 
establishing  missions — these  are  but  a  few  of  the  almost  countless  ways 
which  skill  and  ingenuity  will  devise  to  reach  those  who  would  not  be 
attracted  by  other  means.  The  student  who  is  interested  in  social 
questions  will  be  glad  of  the  opportunity  to  come  directly  into  touch 
with  some  phase  of  the  problem,  even  if  it  be  no  more  than  the  attempt 
to  teach  half  a  dozen  boys  that  there  are  other  forms  of  entertainment 
than  those  of  the  street  or  the  cheap  "show;"  or  to  vary  the  monotony 
of  the  factory  girl's  life  by  a  club  in  which  literature  and  amusement 
share  the  attention,  with  the  balance  of  power  in  favor  of  the  latter.  To 
say  that  the  country  college  has  no  dearth  of  opportunities  is  hardly  an 
adequate  statement,  since  the  village  or  small  town,  each  in  its  own 
way,  needs  social  and  educational  movements  quite  as  truly  as  does  the 
city,  and  is  far  more  likely  to  be  overlooked.  A  Sunday  school  in  a 
lonely  schoolhouse,  to  furnish  a  pleasant  hour  for  the  ten  or  dozen 
children  of  the  region;  an  occasional  entertainment  for  the  inmates  of 
that  most  cheerless  of  all  substitutes  for  the  home,  the  town  or  county 
poorhouse;  Thanksgiving  dinners  and  Christmas  trees — even  these 
simple  manifestations  of  interest  in  the  welfare  of  others  appeal  to  stu- 
dents and  enlist  their  co-operation,  as  well  as  help  to  make  the  community 
life  brighter  and  better. 

There  is  no  change  in  the  conception  of  religious  life  more  significant 
than  the  one  from  that  of  personal  salvation  to  that  of  personal  service 
as  the  object  of  life.  It  is  possible  that  disproportionate  stress  has  been 
placed  upon  religious  activities,  and  that  we  need  to  emphasize  as  an 
essential  factor  in  the  preparation  for  service  more  time  for  the  develop- 
ment and  deepening  of  the  individual  life;  but  the  importance  of  actual 
service  in  arousing  and  maintaining  interest  cannot  be  questioned. 

This  differentiation  and  adaptation  of  work  implies  competent 
leadership.  As  in  every  other  relation  of  life,  success  means  work, 
skill,  insight  into  human  nature.  The  hold  which  the  organization  has 
upon  the  institution  at  large  will  depend  in  great  part  upon  its  leaders. 
If  they  inspire  respect  and  confidence,  have  breadth  of  view,  apprecia- 
tion of  values  in  students  of  different  religious  training  and  environment, 
a  capacity  for  initiative,  and  the  ability  to  bring  together  the  worker  and 
the  work,  the  battle  is  more  than  half  won.  Although  good  generalship 
is  of  first  importance,  too  often  the  theory  that  the  Association  offices  are 
of  comparatively  slight  importance  has  been  responsible  for  its  failure  to 
represent  all  types  of  students.  The  leadership  should  be  on  a  par,  at 
least,  with  that  of  class  organizations,  student  government,  and  other 
institutions  of  college  life.     In  many  colleges  this  can  be  secured  as  far 


RELIGIOUS  ORGANIZATIONS  AMONG  STUDENTS        145 

as  academic  qualifications  are  concerned,  and  in  all  it  is  possible  to  create 
a  public  sentiment  sufficiently  strong  to  control  the  situation. 

This  leads  to  a  third  point,  the  importance  of  faculty  co-operation. 
The  purpose  of  this  Convention  is  in  itself  a  reminder  that  religious 
education  is  as  worthy  of  careful  thought  and  effort  as  other  aspects  of 
education,  and  there  is  no  more  direct  method  of  approach  than  through 
the  voluntary  organization.  It  should  be  co-operation,  not  dictation  or 
domination.  It  is  possible  that  there  are  institutions  w^here  faculty 
membership  is  neither  desired  nor  desirable,  but  that  is  a  misfortune, 
not  a  criterion.  Members  of  the  faculty  among  the  members  of  the 
Association,  on  committees,  on  an  advisory  board,  or  in  some  one  of 
many  ways  indicating  their  interest,  can  do  much  to  bring  about  the 
desired  result.  The  mere  fact  of  membership  gives  a  moral  support 
which  is  too  often  underestimated,  and  in  addition  there  is  the  oppor- 
tunity to  make  the  organization  more  representative  by  bringing  a  wider 
experience,  a  better  understanding  of  human  nature,  and  often  a  more 
tolerant  judgment  in  determining  the  policy. 

The  fourth  point  may  seem  like  emphasizing  a  purely  mechanical 
means  to  an  end — namely,  the  furnishing  of  a  house  to  serve  as  a  center 
for  religious  work.  The  mere  fact  of  having  such  a  center  tends  to 
broaden  the  organization  by  attracting  students  for  conference  and 
general  sociability,  and  results  in  a  new  sense  of  oneness  of  aim  and  unity 
of  interests.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  agencies  which  do  not  make  for 
righteousness  have  long  recognized  the  importance  of  providing  an 
attractive  social  center  for  young  people,  and  that  religious  organizations 
have  been  slow  in  applying  this  truth. 

Finally,  there  must  be  the  spirit  of  Christ,  that  spirit  which  is  a 
synonym  for  charity,  earnestness,  self-sacrifice,  brotherly  love.  All 
else  is  but  the  mechanism,  the  machinery,  to  be  made  effective,  equipped 
with  every  appliance,  but  inert  unless  driven  by  the  irresistible  power  of 
that  love  which  is  divine.  The  religious  services  and  the  classes  for 
Bible  study  may  and  should  be  powerful  agencies  in  the  development 
of  this  spirit,  but  in  order  to  accomplish  this  result  their  power  must  be 
felt.  The  haphazard  character  of  religious  services,  the  too  apparent 
lack  of  plan  or  forethought,  have  often  been  the  explanation  of  their 
ineffectiveness.  Preparation  for  the  Christian  Association  meeting 
should  be  made  as  carefully  as  preparation  for  the  class-room;  and  the 
best  music,  the  most  suggestive  and  helpful  thought,  should  be  brought 
as  an  offering  to  beautify  and  enrich  the  service  of  worship. 

What  has  been  said  during  these  meetings  about  the  importance  of 
Bible  study  might  well  be  applied  to  the  work  of  the  Voluntary  Religious 


146  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

Organization;  there  again  emphasis  must  be  placed  upon  the  character 
of  the  work,  the  necessity  of  strong  leaders,  and  of  courses  which  shall 
win  and  hold  the  respect  and  interest  of  the  student  body;  for  super- 
ficiality, a  lack  of  genuineness,  an  attempt  to  hide  incompetence  by 
moralizing  or  anything  which  partakes  of  cant,  will  do  more  harm  than 
good.  Bible  study  should  be  interesting  as  well  as  earnest,  wideawake 
as  well  as  reverent.  If  it  is  without  force  and  effectiveness,  it  will  also 
be  without  spiritual  power. 

And  in  all  things,  in  plans  for  work  or  for  study,  in  leadership  and  in 
religious  service,  there  must  be  an  exemplification  of  that  love  which 
suffereth  long  and  is  kind,  envieth  not,  vaunteth  not  itself,  is  not  puffed 
up,  seeketh  not  her  own,  is  not  easily  provoked,  thinketh  no  evil,  rejoi- 
ceth  not  in  iniquity,  but  rejoiceth  in  the  truth,  beareth  all  things, 
believeth  all  things,  hopeth  all  things,  endureth  all  things. 


DISCUSSION 
REV.  CHARLES  FRANKLIN  SHAW, 

UNION   SETTLEMENT,   NEW   YORK  CITY 

If  it  be  true  that  the  colleges  and  universities  of  our  land  furnish  to 
society  many  of  its  leaders  in  thought  and  in  action,  then  the  attitude 
of  these  students  to  the  subject  of  religion  must  be  one  of  great  con- 
cern to  all  who  have  at  heart  the  realization  of  a  kingdom  of  righteous- 
ness on  earth.  Yet  the  present  religious  organizations  in  our  colleges, 
though  performing  invaluable  service,  are  not  fully  meeting  the  needs 
of  the  present  generation  of  students. 

Hosts  of  honest,  intelligent,  forceful  young  men  and  women,  coming 
often  from  Christian  homes,  prefer  to  remain  outside  the  religious 
societies  as  at  present  managed.  This  is  especially  the  case  where  a 
devotional  service  sums  up  the  religious  activity  of  the  society.  Three 
things,  at  least,  conspire  to  keep  them  away:  (i)  There  are  so  many 
interesting  things  to  do  in  college  that,  in  the  crowding  of  other  engage- 
ments, the  prayer-meeting  is  thrust  to  one  side.  (2)  The  college  stu- 
dent as  a  rule  has  a  positive  dread  of  cant  and  unreality.  In  many 
college  prayer-meetings  the  young  man  hears  stereotyped  phrases  which 
mean  little  or  nothing  to  him.  The  ancient  truths  in  many  quarters 
have  not  yet  been  clothed  in  modern  forms  of  expression.  (3)  College 
life  usually  represents  the  period  when  the  conventional  and  inherited 
faith  of  many  has  received  a  shock.  Students  enrol  in  courses  in  phi- 
losophy, science,  sociology,  etc.  New  ideas  appear  to  clash  with  the 
old.  They  seem  to  scent  a  conflict  between  science  and  their  theo- 
logical views.  Their  religion  seems  to  be  involved  in  a  cosmology  they 
no  longer  accept.  They  begin  to  drift.  The  great  fountains  of  the 
intellectual  and  religious  deep  seem  to  be  broken  up.  Their  so-called 
faith  appears  about  to  be  engulfed.  Coming  from  provincial  homes, 
encountering — often  for  the  first  time — a  host  of  new  ideas,  a  revolu- 
tion takes  place  in  their  thoughts.  It  is  the  hopeful,  though  critical, 
period  of  the  new  awakening,  the  time  of  a  renaissance,  a  new  birth, 
old  things  are  passing  away,  all  things  are  becoming  new.  It  is  a 
time  when  the  new  intellectual  and  religious  ideas  begin  to  act  and 
react  upon  each  other.  It  is  the  period  when  the  inherited  and  tra- 
ditional behef  is  going  to  pass  over  into  a  reasoning  and  conscious 
faith,  or  it  is  going  to  be  superseded  in  many  cases  by  doubt,  agnos- 
ticism, skepticism,  or  an  equally  distressing  indifferentism. 

147 


148  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

Now,  if  the  voluntary  religious  organizations  are  to  be  broadened 
so  as  to  include  all  types  of  students,  the  bond  of  union  cannot  be 
found  by  merely  trying  to  readapt  old  forms  of  worship  or  by  chan- 
ging our  statements  of  faith.  The  difficulty  is  too  deep  for  that.  No 
easy-going  religious  eclecticism  will  solve  the  problem.  No  surrender 
of  honest  convictions,  be  they  the  affirmations  of  faith  or  the  negations 
of  doubt,  will  here  avail.  What  may  appear  essential  to  one  man  is 
apt  to  appear  nonessential  to  another.  It  is  perhaps  impossible  to 
state  religious  truth  in  such  a  way  as  to  suit  all  believers.  Along  the 
intellectual  and  the  religious  highways  of  life  men  do  not  advance  in 
regular  platoons.  Humanity  has  been  compared  to  a  struggling  mob 
in  which  there  are  representatives  of  all  the  stages  of  moral,  intellectual, 
and  religious  development.  If  our  rehgious  associations  wish  to  include 
all  types  of  students,  they  must  recognize  this  fact  and  be  broad  enough 
to  include  comfortably  the  most  orthodox  and  conservative  students 
as  well  as  those  who  are  honest  yet  doubting. 

But  how  can  this  broadening  be  attained  without  the  sacrifice  of 
convictions?  By  making  just  two  requirements  of  those  who  wish  to 
enter  college  Associations:  (i)  a  willingness  to  enter  upon  an  honest 
and  unbiased  study  of  the  Bible  for  the  sake  of  the  religious  and  ethical 
truths  contained  within  it;  (2)  a  willingness  to  adopt  and  to  work  for 
the  realization  of  Jesus'  ideal  of  a  kingdom  of  righteousness,  a  brother- 
hood of  man;  and  by  engaging,  where  possible,  in  some  form  of  social 
service,  thereby  emphasizing  our  religion  as  a  religion  of  service  for  the 
advancement  of  humanity  in  all  things  pertaining  to  character  and 
happiness. 

One  of  the  aims  of  the  college  and  the  university  is  to  train  men 
and  women  to  think.  With  pecuHar  force  to  students  must  come, 
therefore,  the  exhortation  of  St.  Peter  to  be  "always  ready  to  give  an 
answer  to  every  man  that  asketh  you  a  reason  of  the  hope  that  is  in 
you."  The  primary  need  in  our  day  is  for  honest  and  abiding  con- 
victions respecting  the  fundamental  truths  of  our  religion.  To  build 
the  superstructure  of  one's  faith  upon  uncriticised  emotions  and  senti- 
ments is  to  invite  disaster,  is  to  build  one's  faith  upon  the  sands,  is  to 
endanger  that  faith  when  the  storms  of  hostile  criticism  beat  upon  it. 
We  must  strike  deep  and  build  our  convictions  upon  foundations  that 
cannot  be  shaken. 

To  this  end  the  religious  Associations  should  throw  their  strength 
into  the  establishment  of  classes  for  an  intelligent  and  thoroughgoing 
study  of  the  Bible.  In  this  study  they  must  have  an  absolute  confi- 
dence in  the  abihty  of  truth  to  maintain  itself.     Our  schools  of  science 


DISCUSSION  149 

have  taught  men  to  be  fearless  in  the  examination  of  the  truths  of  the 
universe.  We  must  respect  this  temper  of  mind  and  court  the  fullest 
investigation  of  our  faith.  We  must  assume  that  the  Bible  will  stand 
investigation.  Wliere  possible,  these  classes  should  be  formed  and 
conducted  under  the  leadership  of  religious  experts.  The  one  purpose 
of  these  classes  should  be  the  study  of  the  fundamental  religious  and 
ethical  teachings  of  the  Bible.  To  this  end  they  should  seek  the  help 
of  the  best  scholarship,  employing  all  the  critical  and  historical  tests 
which  devout  scholars  with  much  prayer  and  labor  have  perfected; 
remembering  that  the  object  of  criticism  is  not  to  invent  but  to  solve 
difficulties.  It  must  be  the  conscious  aim  of  this  study  to  disengage 
the  essential  ethical  and  religious  principles  of  our  faith  from  the  non- 
essential cosmological  and  philosophical  theories  with  which  many 
creeds  have  involved  the  gospels.  We  must  endeavor  to  get  back  to 
fundamental  principles.  In  these  classes  the  most  open  and  candid 
discussion  of  the  vital  truths  of  our  faith  should  be  invited  and  encour- 
aged. The  doubter  should  be  met  with  proof,  not  with  reproof.  The 
effort  should  be  made  as  far  as  possible  to  prove  all  things,  always 
holding  fast  that  which  is  good. 

We  who  believe  in  the  inspiration  of  the  Bible  and  in  the  supreme 
value  of  the  revelation  which  has  come  to  us  through  the  prophets 
and  through  Jesus  Christ,  need  have  no  fear  of  results;  for  the  truth 
is  mighty  and  will  prevail.  If  we  follow  this  plan,  the  fearless  study 
of  the  Bible  and  its  problems  will  become  interesting  to  students  and 
will  successfully  compete  with  other  interests.  It  will  help  to  make 
our  religion  real  and  vital,  and  will  serve  to  put  meaning  into  phrases 
which  now  to  the  uninitiated  sound  empty  and  full  of  cant.  Above 
all,  it  will  furnish  men  and  women  with  abiding  convictions  which 
neither  science  nor  philosophy  can  subvert. 

But  the  intellectual  perception  of  religious  and  ethical  truths  is  not 
sufficient.  Clear  and  correct  views  do  not  make  a  religious  man. 
Religion  is  life.  It  includes  the  entire  psychological  man — his  intellect, 
his  affections,  his  will.  The  honest  thinking  and  sympathetic  feeling 
must  find  an  outlet  and  an  active  expression  in  our  living.  If  we  are 
seeking  to  give  students  convincing  proofs  of  the  truth  of  our  religion, 
we  need  to  emphasize  something  else  besides  the  study  of  the  Bible. 
The  careful  study  of  the  written  Word  should  be  supplemented.  Expe- 
rience is  also  one  of  the  best  of  teachers.  The  proof  of  a  religion  is 
always  in  the  living,  in  its  power  to  satisfy  the  religious  feelings  and 
the  ethical  demands  of  our  lives.  "If  any  man  willeth  to  do  His  will, 
he  shall   know  of  the  teaching,  whether  it   be  of   God  or  whether  I 


ISO  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

speak  from  Myself."  This  was  the  bold  challenge  of  Jesus.  Make 
an  experiment  and  you  will  get  an  experience  which  nothing  can  take 
from  you.     This  is  the  religious  as  well  as  the  scientific  test  of  truth. 

To  meet  this  need,  the  voluntary  religious  societies  should  empha- 
size the  active  side  of  our  religion — the  doing  of  God's  will,  character, 
conduct,  social  service.  Much  should  be  made  of  Jesus'  ideal  of  a 
kingdom  of  righteousness,  of  kindliness,  of  social  service,  of  a  brother- 
hood in  which  culture,  wealth,  ability,  and  talents  are  to  be  held  in 
trust  for  the  advancement  of  humanity.  College  students  are  usually 
idealists.  They  are  filled  with  discontent  for  the  imperfections  which 
they  see  round  about  them.  Many  of  them  believe  in  the  possibihty 
of  creating  a  higher  civilization.  Their  sympathies  are  keen.  The 
religious  Associations  should  endeavor  to  utilize  this  sentiment,  and 
where  possible  should  strive  to  harness  it  to  some  definite  form  of 
social  or  religious  work.  WTiere  the  college  is  located  near  a  town 
or  city  this  will  be  especially  easy.  Settlement  work,  mission  work, 
club  work,  teaching  classes,  friendly  visiting,  charity  work  of  various 
kinds — anything  that  emphasizes  the  active  side  of  the  religious  life, 
especially  the  doing  of  something  for  the  less  fortunate,  anything  that 
helps  on  a  better  day,  these  are  the  kinds  of  endeavor  which  can  com- 
mand the  respect  and  co-operation  of  all  types  of  students  and  enlist 
their  services.  Indeed,  this  fact  has  already  been  demonstrated  in 
several  of  our  larger  colleges  and  universities. 

Of  course,  there  is  danger  at  this  point.  The  primary  duty  of  a 
student  is  to  study  and  to  prepare  himself  fully  for  his  life-work.  The 
religious  society  must  be  careful,  therefore,  that  no  student  shall  engage 
in  an  undue  amount  of  social  work  to  the  detriment  of  his  studies. 
On  the  other  hand,  where,  owing  to  the  location  of  a  college,  social 
work  is  not  possible,  the  student's  conduct  and  character  as  a  contri- 
bution to  the  moral  and  spiritual  health  of  the  college  community  is 
the  thing  which  can  best  be  emphasized. 

Along  these  two  lines,  then — an  honest  study  and  search  for  the 
truth,  and  service  in  behalf  of  one's  fellows — the  voluntary  religious 
societies  of  our  colleges  can  safely  be  broadened  to  include  all  types 
of  earnest  students,  without  involving  any  sacrifice  of  conviction,  with- 
out making  any  impossible  demands  in  the  way  of  behef  upon  the 
beginner  in  the  religious  life. 

To  lead  students  to  search  the  Scriptures  for  the  religious  and 
ethical  truth  they  contain,  in  order  that  that  truth  may  in  turn  be  con- 
verted into  power,  into  effective  and  efficient  lives;  to  inspire  with  a 
religious  motive  the  latent  altruistic  impulses  common  to  all;  to  con- 


DISCUSSION  151 

nect  those  impulses  to  some  definite  work  for  helping  others;  to  per- 
suade men  to  accept  as  their  own  purpose  the  purpose  of  Jesus  Christ, 
thus  bringing  in  the  kingdom  of  righteousness — these  are  aims  which  will 
appeal  to  most  students;  and  they  are  aims  entirely  within  the  realm 
of  possible  achievement.  Nothing  short  of  this  will  meet  the  needs  of 
the  situation.  No  temporary  revivals,  no  manufactured  enthusiasm, 
will  suffice.  Men  must  be  brought  face  to  face  with  the  realities  of 
life  itself.  If  the  religious  societies  will  but  help  students  to  secure 
deep  convictions  of  religious  and  ethical  truth  as  a  foundation  for  a 
sturdy  and  an  abiding  faith,  we  may  rest  assured  that  the  devotional 
expression  of  that  faith  will  sooner  or  later  take  care  of  itself. 


THE  PASTORAL  OPPORTUNITY  OF  THE  COLLEGE 
PROFESSOR 

PRESIDENT  BURRIS  A.  JENKINS,  A.M.,  D.D., 

KENTUCKY   UNIVERSITY,  LEXINGTON,  KENTUCKY 

No  class  of  people  stands  more  in  need  of  wise  and  strong  guidance 
than  do  college  students.  There  are  many  obstacles  to  moral  and 
religious  development  in  college  life  that  are  not  often  to  be  found 
operating  so  strongly  elsewhere.  There  is  the  upheaval  that  comes 
with  the  change  from  a  possibly  narrow  home  training  to  the  broader 
ideas  and  manners  of  a  modern  college.  The  religious  conceptions  that 
the  student  brings  with  him  he  finds  impossible  in  the  new  atmosphere; 
and  because  he  cannot  have  his  old  word  about  God,  he  may  have  no 
word  at  all.  There  are  new  temptations  in  the  new-found  freedom. 
There  may  be  undue  absorption  in  athletics.  Or  one  may  devote  him- 
self to  purely  intellectual  pursuits,  giving  attention  to  the  mind  to  the 
exclusion  of  the  heart  and  the  will.  It  was  this,  no  doubt,  that  Professor 
Peabody  referred  to  when  he  once  said:  "A  man  in  the  university  must 
fight  to  keep  his  soul  alive." 

There  is  moreover  that  natural,  and  the  student  thinks  inevitable, 
break  with  close  church  connection.  Instead  of  the  church  there  are 
religious  Associations  which  too  often — not  always — are  in  the  hands  of 
the  weaker  men.  And  the  college  student  will  not  follow  leadership 
that  is  not  strong  and  virile.  Places  for  these  Associations  and  all 
other  religious  activities  are  not  adequate  and  attractive.  Chapel 
services  are  stale,  flat,  and  unprofitable.  The  religion  that  students 
hear  preached  is  too  often  formal  and  mechanical.  There  is  a  con- 
fusion of  theology  with  religion.  Religion  as  preached  is  not  a  real, 
rational  thing.  There  is  a  lack  of  contact  with  a  vigorous  religious  life, 
embodied  in  some  man.  There  is  too  much  professionalism  in  religious 
life.  Adequate  official  recognition  of  the  necessity  for  religious  training 
is  lacking. 

Some  would  meet  this  need  for  pastoral  care  among  our  college 
students  with  a  salaried  pastor,  employed  specifically  to  do  this  work; 
and  in  some  colleges  this  may  solve  the  problem.  But  perhaps  in  most 
institutions  the  professional  character  of  the  worker  would  make  against 
his  influence  with  the  very  men  there  is  most  need  to  reach.  Who  then 
shall  exert  the  needed   influence  ?    Who  but  the  student's  teacher, 

152 


PASTORAL  OPPORTUNITY  OF  THE  PROFESSOR  153 

guide,  and — as  he  ought  to  be — friend,  the  college  professor.  Surely, 
it  follows  from  the  conditions  just  described  that  few  men  have  such 
opportunities  to  help  others  as  he.  Students  are  still  hero-worshipers. 
The  college  man  thinks  he  has  outgrown  much  of  this,  and  feels  more 
or  less  disillusioned;  sentiment  is  squeezed  down  to  its  smallest  com- 
pass. Nevertheless,  covertly  he  is  ready  to  pay  tribute  to  a  man  whom 
he  thinks  of  heroic  mold.  The  student  comes  to  see,  if  he  is  at  all 
penetrating,  a  clearness  of  mind,  a  capability,  and  an  energy,  perhaps 
even  an  aptitude  for  affairs  which,  if  it  were  turned  into  the  channels  of 
trade,  would  bring  twice  and  three  times  the  commercial  return  that 
comes  from  a  college  salary.  Any  student  is  quick  to  appreciate  such 
sacrifice.  It  opens  the  way  for  entrance  to  his  heart.  If  this  is  backed 
up  by  strong  qualities,  admirable  traits,  charm  of  person,  no  man  may 
secure  firmer  hold  on  another's  affections.  He  may  nickname  his  pro- 
fessor, he  may  rail  at  him  at  commons,  but  in  his  heart  the  student 
admires,  perhaps  even  loves,  the  man.  In  Morley's  Gladstone  there  is 
a  passage  from  the  pen  of  the  great  premier,  telling  how,  years  after  his 
Eton  career,  he  sat  down  to  a  dinner  in  honor  of  the  severe  old  head- 
master who  had  flogged  every  boy  in  the  school,  most  of  them  many 
times.  They  had  all  hated  him,  they  said.  But  when  he  rose  to  speak 
at  that  dinner,  such  a  storm  of  applause  never  greeted  a  triumphant 
parliamentarian;  and  tears  of  affection  actually  overflowed  all  eyes. 
What  is  true  of  the  master  is  also  true,  let  us  hope,  of  the  college  pro- 
fessor, whether  he  knows  it  or  not.  No  man  has  a  greater  leverage  for 
good  than  he. 

So  keenly  do  the  professors  themselves  realize  this  fact  that  almost 
uniformly  do  they  declare  that  moral  and  spiritual  qualifications  should 
be  taken  into  account  in  the  selection  of  a  man  to  fill  a  college  chair.  Not 
that  theology  or  dogma  should  have  a  bearing,  not  that  scholarship 
should  be  sacrificed,  or  that  any  man  may  maintain  his  place  without 
the  needed  intellectual  equipment.  But,  other  things  being  equal,  the 
moral  and  religious  man  should  be  chosen  in  preference  to  one  lacking 
these  requisites.  Even  further,  a  man  of  marked  moral  and  spiritual 
power  may  well  be  chosen  in  preference  to  a  better  scholar  lacking  these 
qualities. 

But  what,  now,  specifically  is  the  pastoral  work  a  professor  may 
properly  do  ?  Most  of  it,  no  doubt,  is  to  be  unconscious.  Not  so  much 
what  he  sets  out  to  do,  as  what  he  unconsciously  is — that  is  the  marrow. 
After  all,  this  is  the  best  of  the  work  any  man  ever  does  anywhere — 
being  is  better  than  doing.  One  of  PhiUips  Brooks's  best  sermons  was 
on  "Unconscious  Influence."     The  best  professor  is  not  the  man  who 


154  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

talks  most,  moralizes  most,  or  even  knows  most,  but  the  one  who  is 
most.  In  the  class-room  his  pastoral  power  will  be  felt,  even  though 
he  knows  not  that  power  goes  forth  out  of  him.  His  serenity,  his 
equipoise,  his  self-mastery  in  trying  moments,  his  uniform  cheerfulness 
no  matter  what  heart  of  depression  may  be  in  him,  his  willingness  to 
confess  his  own  ignorance  upon  occasion,  will  all  have  direct  effect  in 
molding  the  fine  clay  before  him. 

Class-room  discussions,  on  most  topics,  open  the  way  for  molding 
opinions  and  volitions  of  students.  These  discussions  often  turn  on 
principles  of  the  highest  idealism.  If  the  instructor  is  a  man  of  sterling 
character,  his  utterances,  consciously  or  unconsciously,  will  shape  the 
destiny  of  his  hearers.  His  attitudes,  his  convictions,  his  ideals,  will  all 
be  exposed;  and,  entirely  without  care  on  his  part,  he  will  lay  bare  his 
soul  for  inspection.  There  is  no  jury  more  keenly  alert,  more  unbiased, 
more  unerring,  more  relentless,  than  that  which  sits  in  those  chairs 
before  the  college  professor.  No  hidden  weakness  escapes  them,  and 
none  but  has  its  effect  upon  their  own  moral  fiber.  Is  there  pomposity  ? 
It  excites  contempt.  Is  there  irritability  ?  It  begets  its  kind.  Is  there 
indolence  ?    The  effect  is  instantaneous  on  character. 

Out  of  the  class-room,  too,  the  professor  continues  to  exert,  so  far  as 
he  comes  in  contact  with  his  students,  the  same  unconscious  influence. 
And  here,  perhaps,  the  small  college  has  the  larger  opportunity,  for 
such  out-of-class  companionship  is  more  possible  in  the  small  college 
than  in  the  large  one.  But  in  any  institution  there  are  always  students 
who  will  eagerly  follow  up  any  encouragement  from  their  instructors 
toward  close  relations.  A  walk  together,  a  fifteen  minutes'  chat  at  a 
pubHc  reception,  a  chance  meeting  on  a  car  or  railway  train,  a  little 
interview  in  the  corner  of  the  library,  or  after  class  in  the  lecture-room, 
may  tell  powerfully  on  the  life  of  a  student.  He  perhaps  will  never 
forget  the  teacher's  words;  or  if  he  does,  he  will  never  escape  from  the 
subconscious  impression  left  upon  him.  There  are  men  powerful  in 
these  ways  who  would  be  greatly  surprised  if  called  pastoral  professors, 
and  who  would  very  likely  resent  the  imputation.  But  they  are  men 
honestly  after  truth,  and  truly  after  honesty.  They  are  transparent 
men,  simple  men.  They  are  not  men  working  for  money,  nor  yet  men 
working  for  fame;  but  they  are  painting  the  thing  as  they  see  it  for  the 
God  of  things  as  they  are. 

Now,  to  turn  to  the  possibilities  for  conscious  effort.  There  are  the 
same  large  possibilities  open  for  the  college  professor  here.  He  may  call 
on  men  when  they  are  ill,  and  that,  too,  without  great  loss  of  time.  No 
call  will  be  half  so  valued  by  the  patient.    Yet  I  have  known  many  a  man 


PASTORAL  OPPORTUNITY  OF  THE  PROFESSOR         155 

to  lie  abed  for  days,  even  weeks,  without  a  professor's  call.  Such  a  time 
is  the  very  occasion  when  self-esteem  is  at  its  lowest,  when  the  bars  are 
down,  and  when  approach  is  easy.  Preaching  is  not  desirable  even 
then,  but  a  cheery,  honest,  hearty  entrance. 

Evenings  at  home  may  be  kept  without  any  great  sacrifice  of  time. 
There  was  one  professor  in  former  days  who  with  his  wife  reserved 
Sunday  evenings  after  church.  Not  many  came  at  any  one  time;  but 
a  great  many  came  in  the  course  of  the  year.  The  wide  window-seat 
looked  inviting,  the  big  chairs,  the  book-shelves,  the  soft  lamplight,  the 
open  fire,  and  the  smell  of  home — all  softened  the  heart  of  a  self-sufficient 
young  citizen  of  the  world.  One  or  two  men  may  occasionally  be 
invited  to  dine.  This  means  much  to  the  students.  It  is  surprising 
how  many  go  a  whole  year,  or  possibly  four  years,  without  such  an 
invitation  from  anyone. 

A  man  bent  on  being  useful  can  find  no  better  opening  than  in 
teaching  a  Sunday-school  class  or  an  evening  Bible  class.  Perhaps  one 
reason  why  the  college  man  refuses  to  go  to  Sunday  school  is  that  there 
are  no  teachers  of  the  same  caliber  as  those  he  faces  every  day.  Let  a 
popular  college  professor  take  a  class,  and  there  is  no  trouble  to  fill  it. 
Perhaps  the  best  Bible  classes  in  this  country  are  led  by  college  men. 
Only  the  pity  is  that  there  are  not  more.  One  man  in  a  state  normal 
school  out  west — a  professor  of  physics — has  rented  a  hall  in  the  town, 
furnished  it  out  of  his  own  pocket,  and  lectures  there  on  the  Bible 
every  Saturday  night  to  about  five  hundred  men.  The  largest  mission- 
study  class  in  the  world  is  conducted  by  a  professor  at  an  obscure  little 
college  in  Ohio. 

The  chapel  services  may  be  turned  to  good  account,  if  the  presiding 
ofl&cer  is  aware  of  his  opportunity.  Has  he  a  professor  with  large  influ- 
ence and  the  gift  of  speech  ?  He  will  make  use  of  such  a  man.  Are 
there  ministers  or  laymen  who  know  how  to  deliver  straight  sermons 
without  preaching  ?  He  will  press  them  into  service.  Is  there  a  robust 
soloist,  or  instrumentalist  easy  of  access  ?  There  may  be  found  room  for 
such  in  the  period  of  devotion,  if  the  institution  is  short  of  funds  for  a 
regularly  drilled  and  highly  trained  choir.  Good  hymns  will  be  used. 
Attention  will  be  paid  to  the  reading  of  Scripture.  The  prayers  will  be 
carefully  thought  out.  In  all  these  ways  the  college — especially  the 
small  college,  in  which  the  chapel  service  is  the  center  of  the  college 
life — has  a  great  opportunity.  And  what  a  boon  to  the  president  is 
the  professor  who  realizes  and  is  willing  to  shoulder  his  pastoral 
responsibilities.  This  pastoral  work  of  a  college  professor  is  a  great 
joy.  Indeed,  a  professorship  is  in  itself  a  great  joy.  It  has  great  com- 
pensations, great  inspirations. 


DISCUSSION 

PRESIDENT  RICHARD  C.  HUGHES,  D.D., 

RIPON   COLLEGE,   RIPON,   WISCONSIN 

There  is  a  general  impression  that  the  present-day  college  and 
university  professor  does  not  give  as  much  attention  to  the  pastoral 
care  of  his  students  as  was  formerly  given  by  teachers.  So  far  as  I 
know,  no  data  have  been  gathered  on  this  subject,  so  we  have  no  definite 
information  upon  which  to  base  an  opinion.  My  observation,  however, 
leads  me  to  believe  that  a  large  number  in  all  our  faculties  do  take  a 
great  personal  interest  in  the  social,  moral,  and  religious  life  of  the  stu- 
dents, and  are  doing  much  wisely  to  direct  it.  If  the  facts  could  be 
gathered  we  would  be  agreeably  surprised  by  the  good  showing  they 
would  make. 

But  there  is  evidence  enough  of  the  need  of  more  attention  to  this 
subject.  Two  marked  changes  in  college  and  university  life  have 
developed  conditions  calling  for  renewed  attention  to  the  pastoral  care  of 
students. 

One  change  is  due  to  the  great  number  of  students  massed  in  our 
larger  American  institutions.  Formerly  it  was  an  easy  matter  for  the 
president  and  teachers  of  an  institution  to  know  by  name  most  of  the 
students;  now  in  many  universities  it  is  difficult  for  the  president  to 
know  all  the  professors  and  instructors,  without  attempting  to  know 
the  students.  And  because  of  the  large  number  of  social  organizations 
within  classes,  fraternities,  clubs,  etc.,  it  is  difficult  for  the  professors 
to  mingle  freely  with  the  students.  No  matter  how  keen  the  interest 
of  the  teacher  in  the  individual  student,  this  increased  number  of  stu- 
dents and  organizations  makes  it  practically  impossible  for  him  per- 
sonally to  help  any  individual  students  when  they  need  such  help. 
Such  help  as  can  be  given  in  a  large  way  to  the  students  in  the  mass 
is  given  by  men  well  qualified.  But  students  need  the  personal  counsel 
of  close  friends  on  questions  relating  to  their  moral  and  religious  life, 
and  no  one  can  give  this  so  well  as  their  favorite  college  teachers.  It 
is  probably  true  that  some  colleges  are  too  small  to  provide  adequate 
equipment,  teaching  force,  and  the  varied  activities  of  student  life;  but 
it  is  also  true  that  the  college  department  of  a  large  university  is  too 
large  when  it  is  impossible  for  the  students  to  receive  this  personal  care 
and  counsel  during  their  undergraduate  course.     The  most  evident 


DISCUSSION 


157 


lesson  for  the  immediate  future  is  that  these  large  bodies  of  under- 
graduates should  be  reorganized  into  small  colleges. 

The  other  change  of  importance  in  this  connection  has  come  through 
the  extreme  specialization  now  demanded  of  teachers.  This  is  a  neces- 
sary requirement,  but  it  narrows  the  interests  and  has  developed  a  new 
type  of  college  professor  who  is  forced  to  give  more  attention  and  time 
to  his  subject  than  to  his  students;  and  since  many  of  these  subjects 
relate  to  life  not  at  all  or  at  best  indirectly,  there  is  a  strong  temptation 
to  give  over  all  attempt  to  influence  the  students  in  their  moral  and 
religious  life.  This  work  should  be  done  by  the  student's  favorite 
teacher;  if  his  favorite  teachers  neglect  it,  he  is  apt  to  lose  much  of 
what  he  ought  to  get  during  college.  Youth  is  the  time  of  greatest 
interest  in  religion  when  the  world  problems  are  pressing  for  solution 
and  the  imagination  is  most  alive  to  the  realities  of  the  spiritual  world. 
Every  teacher  who  has  to  do  with  the  student  during  these  college  days 
should  have  a  human  interest  in  his  life,  should  know  something  of  the 
psychology  of  adolescence  and  of  the  fundamental  character  of  religion 
as  an  element  in  education.  This  is  a  large  requirement,  but  none  too 
large  if  character  is  of  first  importance.  We  cannot  trust  character 
to  grow  without  guidance.  There  is  an  increasing  demand  for  teachers, 
expert  in  their  own  departments,  who  have  a  deep  and  true  interest  in 
the  real  religious  life  of  their  students. 


PROFESSOR  WILLIAM  NORTH  RICE,  Ph.D.,  LL.D., 

WESLEYAN    UNIVERSITY,    MIDDLETOWN,    CONNECTICUT 

I  wish  to  call  attention  to  one  special  condition  of  student  life  which 
emphasizes  the  need  of  such  religious  influence  as  is  contemplated  in 
our  present  discussion.  College  students  are  almost  inevitably  cut  off 
from  any  normal  church  associations.  Their  relation  with  their  home 
churches  can  be  little  more  than  nominal;  and,  in  the  great  majority 
of  cases,  a  college  body  is  so  much  a  community  by  itself  that  the  stu- 
dents come  into  no  real  and  vital  relation  with  the  churches  of  the  town 
in  which  the  college  is  situated.  This  condition,  which  seems  inevi- 
table, makes  more  imperative  the  demand  for  whatever  of  religious 
influence  may  be  exerted  within  the  college. 

I  am  disposed  to  speak  of  the  pastoral  opportunity  of  college  pro- 
fessors in  a  somewhat  narrower  sense  than  that  in  which  the  phrase 
has  been  used  by  President  Jenkins.  Of  course,  the  unconscious  influ- 
ence of  a  good  life  is  felt  by  all  who  come  within  the  sphere  of  one's 
acquaintance;  and  it  is  doubtless  true  that,  in  general,  our  unconscious 


158  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

influence  is  greater  than  our  conscious  and  intentional  influence.  Nor 
have  I  any  disposition  to  undervalue  the  moral  influence  which  a  pro- 
fessor of  the  right  type  of  character  will  exert  in  the  lecture-room.  The 
transparent  candor  which  cares  more  for  truth  than  for  one's  own 
imagined  infalHbility,  and  which  is  wiUing  to  answer  a  question  with 
a  frank  confession  of  ignorance  or  of  error,  is  worth  more  than  a  good 
many  homilies  on  the  law  of  veracity.  But  I  inchne  to  think  that  the 
phrase  "pastoral  opportunity"  was  intended  to  point  us  rather  to  the 
opportunity  which  the  college  professor  has  for  more  or  less  direct  con- 
versation with  individual  students  on  ethical  and  religious  subjects. 
At  any  rate,  it  may  not  be  untimely  to  emphasize  this  special  phase 
of  our  opportunity. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  change  which  has  passed  over  our 
American  colleges  in  the  last  half-century  tends  toward  the  diminution 
of  this  sort  of  influence  on  the  part  of  the  teachers.  We  may  express 
that  change  in  a  single  word  by  saying  that  the  American  college  has 
become  "Germanized;"  it  has  grown  more  and  more  like  a  German 
university.  How  far  the  change  has  been  for  good,  and  how  far  for 
evil,  we  need  not  discuss.  The  change  is  a  fact;  and  its  effects  are 
inevitable.  Fifty  years  ago  the  American  college  had  a  fixed  and 
narrow  curriculum,  including  no  very  advanced  work.  Any  college 
graduate  of  high  rank  in  scholarship  was  supposed  to  be  competent 
to  teach  any  study  of  the  college  course.  In  Yale  College,  in  the  dis- 
tribution of  work  among  the  tutors,  the  senior  tutor  had  his  choice 
among  the  three  departments,  Latin,  Greek,  and  mathematics;  so  that 
a  tutor  who  remained  for  a  term  of  several  years  sometimes  had  the 
three  departments  in  succession.  Now  the  fixed  curriculum  has  given 
place  in  nearly  all  the  American  colleges  to  a  very  large  range  of  elect- 
ive studies.  Undergraduates  who  choose  to  specialize  in  any  one 
department  do  work  of  a  much  more  advanced  character  than  the 
work  done  in  the  colleges  a  half-century  ago.  Not  only  the  larger 
colleges,  but  also  many  of  the  smaller  ones,  have  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  graduate  students,  who  are  pursuing  still  more  advanced  courses 
of  study.  The  wider  scope  and  more  advanced  character  of  instruc- 
tion necessitate  the  employment  of  thoroughly  trained  specialists  as 
instructors. 

These  facts  tend  in  two  ways  to  diminish  what  may  be  called,  in 
the  narrow  sense  which  I  have  indicated,  the  pastoral  work  of  the  pro- 
fessors. In  the  first  place,  the  imperative  demand  for  specialists  leads 
inevitably  to  the  result  that  qualifications  other  than  special  knowledge 
of  the  subject  to  be  taught  have  less  weight  than  formerly  in  the  selec- 


DISCUSSION  159 

tion  of  instructors.  When  it  could  be  assumed  that  any  college  gradu- 
ate of  high  standing  knew  enough  to  teach  any  subject  in  the  college 
course,  the  teachers  could  be  selected  largely  on  the  basis  of  their 
general  type  of  character — intellectual,  moral,  religious,  and  social. 
If,  on  the  other  hand,  we  are  seeking  for  a  man  who  will  give  a  lab- 
oratory course  in  microscopic  petrography,  or  bacteriology,  or  physio- 
logical psychology,  the  choice  must  be  limited  to  the  comparatively 
small  number  of  available  candidates  who  have  made  themselves  experts 
in  that  specialty.  It  is  almost  inevitable  that  in  some  cases  men  should 
be  selected  whose  general  type  of  character  is  not  such  as  to  make  their 
influence  upon  their  students  all  that  could  be  desired. 

The  same  change  in  the  character  of  our  American  colleges  tends 
to  diminish  the  pastoral  work  of  college  professors  by  the  more  exact- 
ing demands  upon  the  professors  in  their  departmental  work.  Not 
only  must  a  man  be  a  specialist  in  order  to  be  called  to  a  professor- 
ship, but  he  must  make  himself  more  and  more  of  a  specialist  after 
he  enters  upon  his  official  duties.  The  more  advanced  instruction 
which  is  given,  not  only  in  the  great  universities,  but  in  the  smaller 
colleges,  makes  great  demands  upon  the  time  of  the  instructor.  A 
single  graduate  student  who  is  pursuing  some  investigation  under  the 
direction  of  a  professor  may  require  and  may  justify  a  greater  expendi- 
ture of  that  professor's  time  than  a  large  class  in  an  elementary  study. 
The  spirit  of  the  times  demands  that  our  colleges  should  be  places  of 
research  as  well  as  places  of  instruction.  A  professor  is  and  ought  to 
be  deemed  unsatisfactory  if  he  is  not  doing  something  in  the  line  of 
original  investigation.  Only  the  investigator  can  be  the  right  sort  of 
teacher  for  advanced  students.  Under  the  pressure  of  this  exacting 
demand  for  work  in  instruction  and  research,  the  conscientious  teacher 
finds  it  very  hard  to  take  time  for  personal  conversation  with  students, 
however  highly  he  may  estimate  the  importance  of  that  means  of  influ- 
ence. There  is  a  tendency  which  every  college  professor  of  our  gen- 
eration must  feel,  however  conscientiously  he  may  struggle  against  it, 
to  limit  his  sense  of  responsibility  to  the  conduct  of  his  lectures  and 
laboratory  work,  and  to  ignore  any  obligation  to  exert  any  moral  influ- 
ence upon  his  students  other  than  that  which  comes  spontaneously 
from  his  own  purity  of  life  and  fidehty  in  official  duty. 

I  believe  that  this  Department  of  the  Religious  Education  Asso- 
ciation can  do  no  better  work  than  to  protest  against  this  tendency. 
Science  was  made  for  man,  and  not  man  for  science.  The  develop- 
ment of  character  is  a  greater  work  than  the  discovery  or  the  teaching 
of  details  of  scientific  fact  and  theory.     In  college  administration  we 


i6o  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

must  demand  that  greater  attention  be  given  to  moral  and  religious 
character  in  the  selection  of  professors.  In  our  own  life  and  work  we 
must  recognize  that  our  responsibility  for  the  character  of  our  students 
is  not  all  discharged  by  the  maintenance  of  a  good  example  in  general 
conduct,  or  by  the  exhibition  of  manliness  in  the  class-room,  however 
important  these  things  may  be.  We  must  recognize  the  obligation  to 
make  some  direct  and  conscious  effort  to  save  the  students  under  our 
influence  from  evil  courses  in  thought  and  action,  and  to  bring  them 
into  loyalty  to  the  highest  ideals,  even  though  our  investigations  go  on 
a  little  more  slowly,  and  our  books  and  papers  are  published  a  little 
less  frequently.  In  one  respect,  it  becomes  us  to  note,  our  pastoral 
opportunity  is  increased  by  the  change  in  educational  methods.  Every 
professor  has  a  small  body  of  students  who  take  his  advanced  electives, 
with  whom  he  comes  naturally  into  somewhat  intimate  association. 
In  his  relations  with  that  group  of  students  he  may  well  recognize 
his  pastoral  opportunity. 

Among  the  most  precious  memories  which  a  third  of  a  century  of 
teaching  has  brought  to  me  is  the  memory  of  an  instance  now  and 
then  in  which  some  student  has  gone  from  my  college  room  with  a  new 
purpose  that  has  developed  into  a  better  and  truer  life.  Yet  I  hardly 
dare  to  enjoy  those  precious  memories.  The  gratitude  which  I  feel 
for  them  is  almost  lost  in  the  feeling  of  shame  and  penitence  that  those 
instances  have  been  so  few.  Perhaps  in  that  word  of  confession  I  speak 
the  experience  of  other  Christian  teachers  as  well  as  my  own. 


III.     THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARIES 


THE  PRESENT  STATUS  OF  BIBLE  STUDY  IN  THE  THEO- 
LOGICAL CURRICULUM 

PROFESSOR  MELANCTHON  W.  JACOBUS,  D.D., 

HARTFORD   THEOLOGICAL   SEMINARY,    HARTFORD,    CONNECTICUT 

During  the  hundred  years  in  which  the  Theological  Seminary  has 
been  existent  in  our  land  there  has  been  a  twofold  development  through 
which  it  has  passed. 

There  has  been  an  external  development — the  development  from  small 
possessions  to  large  equipment,  from  few  pupils  to  an  extended  student 
roll,  from  a  meager  stafif  of  teachers  to  a  comprehensive  faculty. 

At  the  same  time  there  has  been  an  internal  development — the  devel- 
opment from  simple  studies  to  a  compHcated  curriculum,  from  teach- 
ing by  rote  to  scientific  instruction,  from  small  conceptions  of  institu- 
tional ideals  to  conceptions  that  are  broad  and  far-reaching. 

This  development,  however,  has  not  been  everywhere  the  same. 
The  very  fact  that  it  was  a  twofold  development,  moving  along  such 
different  lines,  made  this  inevitable.  In  the  same  institution  the  exter- 
nal and  the  internal  are  easily  open  to  dififerent  degrees  of  progress  at 
dififerent  times,  and  to  different  institutions  they  do  not  necessarily 
present  the  same  ideals.  So  it  has  come  that  today,  instead  of  having 
a  simple  situation  which  can  be  easily  discussed,  we  have  a  very  com- 
plicated one  which  calls  for  wise  and  careful  consideration — sympa- 
thetic in  its  approach  and  helpful  in  its  outcome.  Such  sympathy 
and  help  are  all  the  more  needful  because  of  the  part  which  has  been 
played  in  this  unequal  development  by  the  necessary  denominationalism 
of  the  Seminaries. 

The  Theological  Seminaries  of  today  fall  most  naturally  into  four 
groups: 

1.  The  large  Confessional  Seminaries,  where,  through  access  to  the 
denominational  wealth,  they  have  secured  a  fine  equipment,  attracted 
an  extended  student  roll,  and  gathered  together  a  large  corps  of  instruc- 
tors; but  where,  through  the  dominant  influence  of  the  apologetic  aim, 
there  has  been  the  lack  of  a  corresponding  development  of  curriculum, 
instruction,  and  ideals. 

2.  The  small  Confessional  Seminaries,  where,  either  through  the 

i6i 


i62  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

smallness  of  the  denomination  to  which  they  are  attached  or  through 
failure  of  access  to  denominational  means,  there  has  been  a  lack  of 
development  in  external  directions;  while  through  the  presence  of  a 
dominant  apologetic  there  has  been  an  equal  lack  of  development 
along  internal  lines. 

3.  The  large  non-Confessional  Seminaries,  where  through  access  to 
wealth  there  has  been  brought  about  a  great  development  of  external 
things,  while,  though  the  denominational  purpose  is  more  or  less  present 
in  the  instruction  which  is  furnished,  there  has  been  such  a  broaden- 
ing of  it  beyond  the  purely  apologetic  idea  as  to  accomplish  a  large 
development  of  the  institution  along  internal  lines. 

4.  The  small  non-Confessional  Seminaries,  where,  though  lack  of 
means  has  prevented  external  development,  there  has  been  nevertheless 
along  with  denominational  aims  such  a  presence  of  broader  purposes 
in  the  instruction  as  to  bring  about,  in  some  measure,  a  real  develop- 
ment in  the  institution's  inner  life  and  work. 

In  all  four  classes,  however,  be  it  fully  recognized  that  there  is  one 
common  center  around  which  instruction  and  study  gather — the  Bible. 
This  is  the  reason  for  the  Seminary's  existence.  The  instruction  which 
is  furnished  the  students  must  lead  up  to  and  go  out  from  the  Bible — 
not  that  the  Bible  is  the  religion  which  these  students  are  to  minister 
to  men,  but  that  it  constitutes  the  essential  source  from  which  this 
religion  is  to  be  derived.  For,  with  all  due  reverence  to  God's  inner 
message  to  the  heart  of  the  human  race  in  every  age,  here  in  this  Book 
lies  the  record  of  God's  message  to  that  race  with  which  He  has  had 
special  relations,  and  out  of  whose  understanding  and  experience  of 
that  revelation  came  the  reHgion  of  Jesus  Christ — the  religion  which 
the  ministry  is  to  give  to  men  today.  It  is  a  matter  of  large  interest, 
therefore,  to  know  how  the  Seminaries  are  studying  the  Bible  today. 
In  order  to  secure  this  information,  I  sent  a  questionnaire  to  fifty-five 
institutions  throughout  the  country,  representing  a  large  variety  of 
denominational  connections.  Replies  of  some  sort  were  received  from 
forty-four  of  these  institutions.     The  results  follow: 

I.  The  amount  of  ground  covered  by  the  curricula  of  the  Semi- 
naries in  the  scientific  study  of  the  Bible;  and  the  extent  to  which  this 
study  is  carried  on  with  or  without  the  use  of  the  original  languages 
of  the  Scriptures. 

In  general,  the  repHes  show  the  larger  part  of  the  ground  to  be 
covered  and  the  original  languages  to  be  largely  used.  At  the 
same  time,  however,  it  may  be  added  that  these  replies  show  a 
state  of  affairs  at  certain  points  under   this   question  which  calls  for 


BIBLE  STUDY  IN  THE  THEOLOGICAL  CURRICULUM     163 

particular  attention,  (i)  In  the  Old  Testament  the  ground  covered 
in  reading  varies:  Where  Hebrew  is  required  it  consists,  generally- 
speaking,  only  in  selections  from  the  various  groups  of  books — historical, 
poetical,  prophetical;  where  Hebrew  is  elective  it  consists  in  a  larger 
portion  being  read  in  English  than  in  Hebrew,  while  the  purpose  in 
the  English  reading  is  predominantly  the  analysis,  history,  and  spiritual 
teaching  of  the  contents.  (2)  Where  courses  in  Special  Introduction 
and  Biblical  Theology  are  offered,  practically  all  the  Old  Testament 
is  covered  in  scientific  study;  where  such  courses  are  not  offered — or 
offered  only  in  part — the  scientific  study  seems  to  be  confined  to  such 
Hebrew  exegesis  as  is  carried  on.  This  last  condition  appears  to  be 
confined  to  the  smaller  confessional  institutions.  (3)  Cases  occur 
where  Hebrew  is  used  for  reading,  while  Introduction  and  Biblical 
Theology  are  studied  on  the  basis  of  the  English  text.  This  condition 
also  appears  to  be  confined  to  the  class  of  institutions  just  referred  to. 

(4)  In  the  New  Testament  also  the  ground  covered  in  reading  varies. 
It  always  includes  selections  from  the  Gospels  and  Paul's  Epistles; 
frequently  Hebrews  and  portions  of  the  Catholic  Epistles  are  read; 
sometimes  the  whole,  or  parts,  of  Acts;  least  frequently  the  Apocalypse. 

(5)  On  the  other  hand,  the  proportion  of  Greek  to  English  work  is 
almost  the  reverse  of  the  Hebrew  and  English  work  in  the  Old  Tes- 
tament; that  is  to  say,  more  work  proportionately  is  done  in  Greek 
than  in  English.  This  explains  the  following  statement,  that  where 
courses  in  Special  Introduction  and  Biblical  Theology  are  offered  prac- 
tically all  the  books  are  given  scientific  study;  while  in  institutions 
where  such  courses  are  not  offered,  or  offered  only  in  part,  scientific 
study  is  confined  to  Greek  Exegesis,  though  a  larger  portion  of  the 
books  are  covered  in  such  work  than  is  the  case  in  the  Old  Testament 
under  similar  conditions.  (6)  As  might  be  supposed,  cases  occur  where 
Greek  is  used  for  reading,  while  Introduction  and  Biblical  Theology 
are  done  on  the  basis  of  the  EngHsh  text.  These  last  two  conditions 
obtain,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Old  Testament,  in  the  smaller  confessional 
institutions. 

2.  The  degree  to  which  these  curricula  cover  the  complete  course  of 
Bible  history;  the  degree  to  which  the  history  is  studied  on  the  basis 
of  the  literary  documents  of  Biblical  criticism,  and  with  the  inclusion  of 
extra-canonical  literature. 

As  to  the  Bible  history,  it  is  evident:  (i)  that  a  large  portion  of  the 
institutions  do  not  give  a  complete  Biblical  history  in  both  Testaments; 
practically  but  one-half  of  the  whole  number  go  over  all  the  ground. 
(2)  In  the  case  of  those  institutions  where  the  courses  fail  of  complete- 


i64  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

ness  details  are  given  by  the  replies  only  in  a  few  cases;  but  where  they 
are  given  it  is  noticeable  that  a  tendency  exists  to  deal  more  fully  with 
the  Old  Testament  history  than  with  the  history  of  the  New  Testament. 
In  the  New  Testament  the  study  is  inclined  to  stop  with  the  period 
covered  by  the  Book  of  Acts;  some  even  fail  to  go  beyond  the  Gospel 
history.  (3)  At  the  same  time,  it  is  a  matter  of  doubt  whether  the  Old 
Testament  history — even  where  it  is  completely  covered — includes  in 
all,  or  even  in  any  large  portion  of  cases,  the  inter-Testament  period. 
In  all  this  it  cannot  be  said  that  any  confessional  lines  are  noticeable 
among  the  institutions;  though  it  is  true  that  a  large  part  of  the  smaller 
Seminaries — confessional  and  non-confessional — fail  in  the  complete- 
ness of  the  study. 

As  to  the  documentary  basis  on  which  the  study  is  conducted,  it  is 
quite  manifest  that  this  is  a  question  which  must  have  more  significance 
for  the  history  of  the  Old  Testament  than  for  the  history  of  the  New. 
It  is  interesting,  therefore,  to  note  that  over  one-half  of  the  institutions 
discard  the  critical  documents  as  a  basis  for  their  historical  work,  while 
it  is  not  always  clear  to  what  extent  those  which  are  sympathetically 
inclined  toward  these  documents  actually  base  upon  them  the  study  they 
carry  on.  But  the  line  that  here  divides  the  institutions  is  clearly  the 
confessional.  Those  which  ignore  the  documents  as  a  basis  of  work 
are  characteristically  the  confessional  schools;  those  which  use  them, 
characteristically  the  non-confessional. 

As  to  the  study  of  extra-canonical  literature,  almost,  one-half  of  the 
institutions  give  no  treatment  to  literature  outside  the  canon — not  even 
to  the  Old  Testament  Apocrypha,  which  we  could  consider  as  lying 
most  naturally  at  hand ;  while  the  study  of  the  New  Testament  Pseudepig- 
rapha  is  yet  more  infrequent,  there  being  only  two,  or  at  the  most 
three,  cases  where  it  is  evidently  present.  No  confessional  lines  appear 
in  the  situation,  not  even  any  lines  of  large  or  small  institutional  equip- 
ment. 

3.  How  far  these  curricula  ofifer  courses  in  General  and  Special 
Introduction,  and  the  topics  included  under  these  departments. 

As  to  General  Introduction,  there  is  apparent  a  tendency  to  modify 
this  discipline  as  a  separate  and  distinctive  course,  the  modification 
being  in  the  direction  of:  (i)  cutting  down  the  topics  included  in  the 
study  to  those  of  Canon  and  Text ;  so  that  only  in  the  smaller  and  in  the 
more  distinctly  confessional  schools  do  we  find  the  old  themes  of  "Sacred 
Geography,"  "Sacred  Antiquities,"  and  " Hermeneutics "  treated;  and 
(2)  the  substitution  for  them  in  the  larger  and  the  more  definitely  non- 
confessional  institutions  of  more  scientific  themes,  such  as  "Semitic 


BIBLE  STUDY  IN  THE  THEOLOGICAL  CURRICULUM     165 

and  Christian  Archaeology,"  "North  Semitic  Inscriptions,"  with  (3) 
the  addition  of  broader  themes  such  as  "New  Testament  Encyclopedia," 
and  (4)  of  more  critical  themes  such  as  "  Pentateuchal  and  Hexateuchal 
Criticism." 

As  to  Special  Introduction,  the  general  tendency  is  to  cover  all  books 
of  both  Testaments  in  critical  study,  (i)  so  that  only  occasionally  and 
in  the  smaller  schools  do  we  find  an  absence  of  courses  in  Special 
Introduction;  (2)  in  fact,  with  some  of  the  larger  institutions  the  tendency 
is  rather  to  extend  Special  Introduction  outside  the  canon  and  apply 
its  principles  also  to  Apocalyptic  and  Patristic  Literature.  It  is  a  ques- 
tion apparently  of  simple  development  of  curriculum,  though  this  devel- 
opment seems  to  be  more  evident  with  the  non-confessional  schools. 

4.  How  far  they  ofifer  courses  in  interpretative  study,  and  the  extent 
of  ground  covered  in  the  courses. 

It  is  clear  that,  while  exegetical  courses  are  given  in  all  the  Seminaries, 
three  years  are  not  sufficient  for  a  critical  reading  of  all  the  books  of 
both  Testaments.  In  one  Seminary  the  student  is  expected  (presum- 
ably largely  by  himself)  to  read  through  the  whole  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment at  least  once  in  his  course,  being  subjected  to  a  written  examination 
twice  a  year  on  what  he  has  read.  This,  however,  is  not  likely  to  result 
in  thoroughly  critical  work  on  the  student's  part. 

The  exegetical  courses  being  thus  necessarily  incomplete,  selections 
from  the  Old  and  New  Testament  books  are  made:  (i)  In  the  Old 
Testament,  as  far  as  details  are  given  in  the  replies,  the  selections  are 
taken  quite  equally  from  the  historical,  poetical,  and  prophetical  groups. 
As  far  as  there  is  any  difference,  the  last  group  shows  the  largest  number 
of  selections  while  the  Wisdom  group  is  distinctly  referred  to  as  being 
selected  from  in  but  few  cases;  although  it  is  a  matter  of  doubt  whether 
some  institutions  which  report  courses  in  the  poetical  books,  do  not 
include  portions  of  the  Wisdom  literature  under  this  head.  (2)  In  the 
New  Testament  the  selections  are  made  quite  equally  from  the  Gospels 
and  the  Epistles,  the  Book  of  Acts  being  but  infrequently  used— doubt- 
less due  to  its  service  in  the  study  of  Church  History;  while  the  Pastoral 
Epistles  and  the  Apocalypse  are  practically  not  used  at  all.  The  letters 
of  Paul  are  almost  always  present  in  the  epistolary  selections. 

In  view  of  the  idea  prevalent  in  certain  quarters  that  emphasis 
placed  upon  Biblical  Criticism  restricts  the  work  done  in  Exegesis,  it 
is  significant  to  note  that,  generally  speaking,  the  most  extensive  exegeti- 
cal work  is  done  in  those  institutions  where  critical  work  is  most  developed ; 
though  it  is  quite  evident  that  in  these  institutions  the  exegesis  is  carried 
on,  not  in  the  older  philologico-doctrinal  method  by  which  passages 


i66  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

were  subjected  to  minute  examination  with  the  purpose  of  proof  for 
theological  positions,  but  rather  in  the  newer  historico-exegetical  method, 
by  which  passages  are  given  thorough  critical  treatment  with  no  purpose 
beyond  that  of  pure  interpretation  of  the  writer's  views. 

5.  How  far  they  offer  courses  in  Biblical  Theology,  and  the  extent 
of  ground  covered  in  the  courses. 

Fully  one-half  of  the  institutions  include  the  study  in  their  curricula, 
but  in  a  variety  of  ways:  (i)  a  majority  carry  on  the  study  in  its  proper 
technical  method  of  the  historical  treatment  of  specific  writers,  or  group 
of  writers,  or  periods  of  writing,  the  detail  being  greater  in  the  New 
Testament  than  in  the  Old;  (2)  a  certain  portion  offer  only  what  is 
termed  a  general  course  of  Old  Testament  Theology  or  New  Testament 
Theology,  the  two  Testaments — as  a  general  thing — being  equally 
treated;  (3)  a  smaller  number  give  their  instruction  on  the  basis  of  text- 
books, this  naturally  making  the  work  more  general  in  character. 

At  the  same  time,  it  is  quite  clear  that  as  yet  there  is  an  almost  uni- 
versal failure  to  distinguish  between  Biblical  Theology  as  the  treatment 
of  specific  writers  or  periods,  and  Biblical  Dogmatics  as  the  treatment 
of  specific  doctrines  through  all  writers  and  periods.  With  one  or 
perhaps  two  exceptions,  the  institutions  reporting  have  no  distinctive 
work  designated  as  Biblical  Dogmatics  in  distinction  from  Biblical 
Theology;  and  it  is  manifestly  impossible  to  know  to  what  extent 
the  "general  courses"  reported  treat  the  subject  from  the  Biblico- 
Theological,  as  distinguished  from  the  Biblico-Dogmatic,  point  of  view. 

It  is  further  noticeable  that  much  of  the  Biblico-Theological  work 
is  carried  on — especially  in  the  larger  and  more  critically  developed 
institutions — under  the  broader  rubric  of  the  History  of  Judaism,  or 
the  History  of  the  Hebrew  Religion. 

6.  How  far  they  offer  courses  in  the  English  Bible,  together  with 
the  purpose  and  methods  of  this  instruction. 

It  is  a  matter  of  considerable  doubt  whether  in  any  of  the  institutions 
there  are  offered  courses  which  aim  to  instruct  the  student  as  to  the 
practical  use  of  the  Bible  in  pastoral  work,  or  as  to  its  private  use  for 
the  personal  life.  But  in  two  of  the  smaller  schools  courses  are  offered 
which,  if  they  were  more  fully  described,  would  probably  approximate 
to  the  idea.  One  is  a  course  for  "pastoral  workers,"  in  which  "training 
is  given  for  public  and  private  work;"  though  there  is,  along  with  it,  no 
attempt  at  a  course  which  instructs  the  student  as  to  the  use  of  the  Bible 
privately  in  his  personal  religious  life.  The  other  is  a  course  offered  in  a 
"Personal  Workers'  Class,"  but  the  method  of  work  is  not  described. 

Several  institutions  offer  courses  in  the  English  Bible;  but,  as  far  as 


BIBLE  STUDY  IN  THE  THEOLOGICAL  CURRICULUM     167 

can  be  ascertained,  they  are  largely,  if  not  wholly,  devoted  to  acquaint- 
ing the  student  with  tlie  contents  of  the  Book,  there  being  no  plan  of 
training  him  for  its  use  in  his  work,  or  helping  him  in  its  use  for  him- 
self (though  one  exception  might  be  noted  of  a  course  the  purpose  of 
which  is  to  train  men  in  the  use  of  the  Bible  for  evangelistic  and 
Sunday-school  work). 

At  the  same  time,  it  is  quite  apparent  that  the  more  progressive 
institutions  are  gradually  coming  to  the  consciousness  that  there  is  a 
specific  need  for  instruction  in  the  English  Bible,  apart  from  the  criti- 
cal study  of  the  Scriptures  in  Hebrew  and  Greek.  Not  with  the  idea 
that  the  Enghsh  Bible  is  another  book  from  the  Bible  of  the  original 
languages,  but  that  it  is  distinctively  the  Book  which  the  minister  is  to  use 
with  his  people  in  his  work.  The  courses  already  established  look  in 
this  direction.  And  the  fact  that  one  or  two  institutions  report  English 
Bible  courses  in  contemplation  shows  that  more  progress  in  this  direction 
is  likely  soon  to  be  made. 

There  are  but  three  points  where  it  seems  to  me  these  facts  make  clear 
the  need  of  better  things : 

I.  The  first  point  is  that  of  Encyclopaedia.  To  my  mind  there  is 
call  for  a  truer  arrangement  of  studies.  I  do  not  mean  a  more  compre- 
hensive curriculum;  though  in  these  days  of  large  requirements  for  the 
ministry  it  would  be  greatly  helpful  to  have  every  institution  develop 
its  curriculum  to  the  full  extent  of  its  resources.  Nor  do  I  mean  even  a 
more  balanced  curriculum,  for  though  the  tendency  to  place  the  larger 
weight  of  instruction  at  the  points  of  systematic  and  practical  theology 
is  evident  for  certain  reasons  in  certain  institutions,  yet,  as  a  general 
thing,  the  amount  of  time  devoted  to  the  studies  which  more  directly 
affect  the  Bible,  on  the  one  hand,  and  to  those  which  concern  rather 
formulated  thought  and  applied  work,  on  the  other  hand,  is  given 
remarkably  fair  treatment.  What  is  meant  is  a  more  logical  curriculum. 
Whatever  be  the  contents  of  the  curriculum,  there  is  a  right  sequence  in 
which  they  ought  to  be  studied.  Languages  should  be  first,  in  order  to 
furnish  the  tools;  criticism  should  be  next,  in  order  to  give  the  sources; 
Exegesis,  BibHcal  Theology,  and  Biblical  Dogmatics  next,  in  order  to 
give  the  material.  Then  should  come  Systematics,  in  order  to  give 
the  formulation  of  the  material;  with  Histories  and  Practics  last,  to 
gather  this  material  so  formulated  around  its  application  to  life  and 
work. 

Obviously,  such  sequence  cannot  be  absolutely  secured,  because 
there  is  not  enough  time  for  the  process.  But  it  should  at  least  be  rela- 
tively worked  out,  so  that  the  student,  coming  to  the  Seminary  as  he  so 


168  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

often  does  with  the  idea  largely  present  before  him  that  the  purpose  of 
his  work  is  practically  to  secure  texts  and  thoughts  for  sermons;  and 
consequently  having  no  patience  for  the  languages,  but  an  abnormal 
desire  to  get  at  once  to  exegesis  and  theology — that  he  shall  be  shown 
and  be  brought  to  understand  the  essential  need  of  development  in  his 
work,  if  he  is  to  be  trained  aright  for  the  best  service  in  the  Kingdom. 
Practically  exegesis  will  always  enter  more  or  less  into  Junior  year  work; 
but  when  Criticism  is  postponed  until  Exegesis  has  been  extensively 
studied  and  Bibhcal  Theology  and  Dogmatics  essentially  begun,  there 
will  be  one  of  two  results:  (i)  either  criticism  will  not  be  appreciated 
when  it  comes,  since  it  has  been  practically  anticipated  in  the  explana- 
tions necessary  to  an  intelligible  interpretation;  (2)  or  else  it  will  bring 
confusion  and  conflict  in  its  train,  and  a  sense  of  need  to  go  back  and 
reconstruct  interpretation  on  a  more  historical  basis — a  condition  of 
affairs  which  may  become  a  danger  in  the  student's  study  life.  The 
tendency  to  this  disarrangement  is  noticeable  in  institutions  of  all  classes, 
both  large  and  small,  confessional  and  non-confessional.  It  is  the  result 
simply  of  failure  to  apprehend  a  right  Biblical  pedagogic,  and  is  one  of 
the  faults  which  should  be  capable  of  relatively  easy  correction. 

2.  The  point  of  Method.  By  this  is  meant,  not  a  need  of  more 
scholarliness  in  instruction  and  study,  for  whatever  remains  to  be 
desired  in  some  of  our  schools  (where  perhaps  is  lacking  the  stimulus  of  a 
denominational  pressure  for  good  work,  or  the  encouragement  of  student 
material  to  work  upon),  the  Theological  Seminary  generally  speaking  is 
not  inferior  in  comparison  with  other  post-graduate  schools  in  respect 
of  scholarly  work.  What  is  meant  is  the  need  in  this  scholarliness  of 
work  of  right  method  of  working.  This  has  its  chief  example  in  what 
may  be  termed  the  need  of  the  historical  spirit,  which  is  rapidly  coming 
to  be  acknowledged  as  the  essential  requirement  for  a  right  understand- 
ing of  the  Bible.  The  lack  of  this  spirit  is  seen  principally  at  three 
points:  (i)  in  the  tendency  to  treat  BibHcal  Criticism  from  the  point  of 
view  of  a  canonical  apologetic,  rather  than  of  a  historical  study  of  origins ; 
(2)  in  the  tendency  to  study  Exegesis  from  the  point  of  view  of  philologi- 
cal and  theological  discussion,  rather  than  of  a  historical  interpreta- 
tion; (3)  in  the  failure  to  understand  the  historical  character  of  Biblical 
Theology  and  Biblical  Dogmatics;  or,  when  historically  understood,  in 
the  failure  to  appreciate  the  right  they  have  to  a  place  in  the  curriculum. 

These  faults  also  are  present  in  institutions  of  all  groups,  both  small 
and  large,  though  dominantly  in  those  of  a  confessional  character; 
while  they  are  faults  which,  for  this  last  reason,  are  not  easily  removed. 

3.  The  point  of  Application.     The  criticism  freely  lodged  against 


BIBLE  STUDY  IN  THE  THEOLOGICAL  CURRICULUM     169 

the  Seminaries,  that  they  fail  to  prepare  and  equip  their  men  for  the 
practical  work  of  the  ministry  to  which  they  are  to  go,  is  having  an  effect 
upon  these  institutions  in  stimulating  them  to  the  establishing  of  courses 
of  instruction  which  have  more  of  a  direct  bearing  upon  the  varied  lines 
of  service  their  students  have  in  mind,  such  as  courses  in  Foreign  Mis- 
sions, Christian  Sociology,  and  Religious  Pedagogy.  It  is  this  last 
group  of  courses  which  is  bringing  most  prominently  to  view  the  need  of 
instruction  in  the  English  Bible — a  need  that  is  already  being  met  in 
several  quarters. 

It  must  be  manifest,  however,  that  what  is  needed  in  English  Bible 
work  is  not  the  mere  acquainting  of  students  with  the  contents  of  the 
English  Scriptures — a  process  which  has  all  the  dangers  of  an  English 
course  parallel  with  the  regular  course — but  the  distinctive  instruction 
of  the  student,  on  the  basis  of  the  critical  work  he  has  already  done  with 
the  Bible  in  Hebrew  and  Greek,  in  the  practical  use  of  the  English 
Bible  in  his  ministry;  in  its  management,  as  a  Book  to  be  preached  from 
the  pulpit;  in  its  treatment,  as  a  Book  to  be  taught  in  the  Schools  of  the 
Church;  in  its  handling,  as  a  Book  to  be  used  in  the  inquiry  room  and  in 
general  evangelistic  work;  and  in  its  absorption,  as  a  Book  to  be  com- 
muned with  in  his  own  religious  life. 

In  these  days  of  reviving  spiritual  life,  the  signs  of  which  are  every- 
where about  us,  the  Seminaries  will  prove  recreant  to  their  most  solemn 
responsibility  and  show  themselves  blind  to  their  grandest  opportunity 
if  they  miss  the  chance  of  installing  among  their  required  courses  this 
course  of  instruction  in  the  practical  and  personal  use  of  the  English 
Scriptures.  It  will  need,  indeed,  wise  men  to  carry  this  instruction  out. 
It  cannot  be  done  ofifhand  and  by  anyone.  It  will  need  men  who  have 
known  from  personal  experience  what  ought  and  what  ought  not  to  be 
done  with  the  Book.  Most  of  all,  it  will  need  men  who  know  how, 
through  the  subtle  power  of  a  teaching  personahty,  to  impart  to  others 
the  knowledge  which  has  come  to  them  from  their  own  experience. 

That  this  is  possible  I  have  not  the  slightest  doubt.  And  that,  in 
these  next  coming  years,  this  possibility  will  be  realized  I  have  absolutely 
no  question.  Men  are  turning  to  the  Bible  today  as  they  have  not 
turned  before  in  years.  To  meet  them  in  their  quest  the  minister  will 
be  trained,  as  he  has  not  yet  been  trained,  to  know  spiritually  for  him- 
self and  to  use  practically  with  others  this  Bible  which  is  being  sought. 


THE  BIBLE  AS  A  TEXT-BOOK  OF  ETHICS 
PROFESSOR  JAMES  S.  RIGGS,  D.D., 

AUBURN   THEOLOGICAL    SEMINARY,    AUBURN,    NEW   YORK 

This  question  virtually  suggests  a  new  line  of  work  for  our  theological 
seminaries.  I  do  not  mean  that  ethics  has  now  no  consideration  in  the 
theological  curriculum.  Far  from  it !  The  whole  course  of  theological 
studies  bears  ultimately  in  one  form  or  another  upon  the  expression 
of  truth  in  life.  If  in  any  part  it  fails  to  do  this,  it  becomes  to  that 
extent  scholastic  and  unfits  rather  than  prepares  men  for  their  life-work. 
Every  course  of  lectures  on  the  teachings  of  Jesus  or  of  Paul  must  deal 
with  the  problems  of  ethics.  There  can  be  no  complete  discussion  of 
the  law,  or  of  the  exalted  mission  of  the  prophets,  which  does  not  give 
place  to  a  large  consideration  of  ethical  questions.  We  are  all  familiar 
with  books  which  give  a  comprehensive  and  valuable  review  of  these 
questions.  Their  substance  and  method  must  find  place  under  the 
broader  theme  which  we  are  called  to  discuss. 

This  theme  is  in  reality  Biblical  Ethics,  by  which  is  meant  a  scientific 
treatment  of  the  whole  subject  as  found  between  the  two  covers  of  the 
Bible.  I  know  of  no  work  which  aims  to  give  us  just  this  in  the  light  of 
modern  research,  but  the  time  is  ready  for  it,  and  great  good  will  result 
from  its  accomplishment.  Such  a  scientific  presentation  of  the  theme 
presupposes  much  critical  historical  study  in  order  to  its  correctness  and 
helpfulness.  Biblical  Ethics  should  move  pari  passu  with  Biblical 
Theology.  What  is  required  for  the  true  setting  forth  of  one  is  required 
for  the  other.  Indeed,  in  the  order  of  theological  discipline  it  would  be 
difficult  to  say  which  comes  first,  for  all  the  ethics  of  the  Bible  are 
definitely  related  to  the  prevailing  conception  of  God.  They  act  and 
react  upon  each  other. 

Hence  by  the  proper  use  of  the  Bible  as  a  text-book  of  ethics,  two 
requirements  must  first  be  met:  (i)  a  correct  historical  perspective;  (2) 
a  correct  interpretation  of  historical  situation.  The  first  looks  to  the 
progressive  character  of  the  revelation  of  the  Scriptures;  the  second,  to 
the  background  and  form  of  the  teachings  of  any  given  time.  In  short, 
the  historical  method  must  dominate  the  whole  work  of  the  preparation 
for  a  scientific  knowledge  of  the  ethics  taught  in  the  Scriptures.  I  am, 
of  Course,  not  forgetting  the  relation  of  actual  obedience  to  the  clear  and 
convincing  appreciation  of  all  ethical  teaching;  but  that  phase  of  the 
subject  lies  outside  the  scope  of  my  theme. 

170 


THE  BIBLE  AS  A  TEXT-BOOK  OF  ETHICS  171 

I.  A  correct  historical  perspective.  By  this  is  to  be  understood  that 
we  get  clearly  before  us  that  order  of  books  in  both  Testaments  which  shall 
enable  us  to  mark  the  stages  of  the  history  and  the  development  of  life. 
We  are  at  once  confronted  by  critical  questions.  It  would,  of  course,  be 
wide  of  the  truth  to  say  that  the  ethics  of  the  Old  Testament  are  valueless 
unless  one  is  familiar  with  the  critical  theories  regarding  the  origin  of 
the  Old  Testament.  The  exalted  teachings  of  the  Psalms,  and  the 
great  ethical  principles  embodied  in  the  exhortations  and  warnings  of 
the  prophets,  are  self-evidencing  in  worth  and  applicability.  The  ques- 
tion before  us  however,  is:  How  shall  the  theological  student  be  taught 
to  use  the  Bible  as  a  text-book  of  ethics  ?  That  means  the  Book  in  all 
its  parts,  with  all  its  varying  standards,  and  with  all  its  moral  problems. 
A  rational,  consistent  explanation  of  the  whole  is  demanded. 

There  must  be  that  discipline  of  the  imagination  by  a  careful  study 
of  facts  which  shall  prevent  us  from  letting  the  noon-day  brightness  of 
the  example  and  precept  of  Jesus  fall  upon  the  deeds  and  conceptions 
of  the  patriarchs;  which  knows  how  properly  to  estimate  the  conduct 
of  Israel  in  the  beginnings  of  its  history  by  the  time  and  environment  of 
those  struggles  rather  than  by  the  spiritual  measurements  of  the  apostle 
Paul.  These  may  seem  to  be  unlikely  mistakes  in  our  day  of  enlighten- 
ment, but  the  time  has  not  yet  gone  by  in  which  the  so-called  immorali- 
ties of  the  Old  Testament  are  not  judged  from  the  view-point  of  the 
New  Testament  and  from  that  alone,  to  the  utter  confusion  of  all 
historical  perspective. 

There  has  been  and  is  a  philosophy  of  the  plan  of  salvation,  and 
that  plan  involved  the  moral  education  of  a  people  compassed  through 
its  whole  history  by  influences  both  intellectual  and  ethical  which  must 
be  taken  into  account  by  any  adequate  explanation  of  results.  Who, 
for  example,  can  even  attempt  a  right  interpretation  of  the  temptation 
of  Abraham  who  has  not  made  a  study  of  the  doctrine  of  the  "rights  of 
man"  prevalent  in  the  times  in  which  the  patriarch's  life  is  placed? 
The  ethics  of  the  Old  Testament  are  an  organic  structure.  We  must 
not  only  find  the  principle  of  growth,  but  we  must  be  able  to  trace  it 
through  the  various  stages  in  which  it  appears — Mosaism,  prophetism, 
the  wisdom  literature,  legalism — until  it  finally  appears  in  Christ. 
Not  only  must  we  be  able  to  do  this,  but  we  must  know  what  each  period 
contributed  to  the  organic  whole,  and  the  several  parts  must  be  estimated 
in  the  light  of  ascertained  results. 

The  Bible  is  as  innocent  of  systematic  presentation  here  as  it  is  in 
theology.  Doctrine  and  history  are  interwoven.  The  solution  of  the 
literary  and  historical  problems  connected  with  the  books  which  present 


172  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

this  to  us  can  only  make  clear  the  perspective  in  which  our  judgments 
regarding  the  ethics  are  to  be  formed.  Let  me  illustrate  what  I  mean 
from  the  study  of  the  development  of  the  doctrine  of  immortality.  All 
students  of  the  Old  Testament  know  that  an  appeal  to  conduct  made 
from  motives  concerning  the  Hfe  beyond  death  is  almost  entirely  absent 
from  the  Old  Testament.  For  cogent  reasons  the  book  of  Daniel  has 
by  many  scholars  been  placed  in  the  second  century  B.  C.  How  com- 
pletely its  conception  of  resurrection  fits  to  this  time!  How  fully  the 
struggles  of  Israel  during  the  days  of  the  Maccabees  fixed  the  eyes  of 
the  people  upon  eschatological  hopes  and  ambitions!  How  com- 
pletely the  doctrine  of  God  wrought  out  by  scribism  prepared  the  way 
for  the  formalism  with  which  Jesus  came  into  contact !  Why  did  Jesus 
find  points  of  contact  for  His  teaching  in  the  momentous  period  of  prophet- 
ism  rather  than  in  the  centuries  immediately  preceding  Him  ?  These 
are  the  questions  which  require  that  we  get  clearly  before  us  that  per- 
spective of  history  which  explains  the  conditions  for  any  possible  advance 
in  ethical  conception,  the  limitations  put  upon  progress,  and  the  attain- 
ments really  made. 

More  than  all  this,  it  prevents  that  confusion  of  estimates  which  is 
the  stock  in  trade  of  superficial  skepticism  and  the  perplexity  of  many 
earnest  men  and  women  who  have  not  yet  been  able  to  see  clearly 
within  the  pages  of  the  Bible  the  record  of  a  moral  evolution  in  which 
means  have  been  adapted  to  an  end,  and  in  accordance  with  which  God 
has  patiently  waited  and  endured,  giving  Himself  only  in  so  far  as 
He  could  be  received,  yet  with  every  stage  of  reception  showing  the 
promise  of  a  larger  gift.  In  his  chapter  on  the  "Hope  of  Immortality 
in  the  Old  Testament,"  in  Modern  Criticism  and  the  Preaching  cj  the 
Old  Testament,  Professor  George  Adam  Smith  calls  our  attention  to 
the  importance  of  that  time  about  the  end  of  the  seventh  century  B.C., 
when  among  the  Jews  the  vision  of  the  religious  worth  of  the  individual 
began  to  brighten.  Its  significance  lay  in  the  fact  that  at  that  time 
new  ethical  conceptions  of  personal  responsibility  were  born  which  both 
Jeremiah  and  Ezekiel  expressed  and  which  Jeremiah  uniquely  illus- 
trated. How  much  it  means  for  our  proper  understanding,  not  only 
of  the  history,  but  of  the  inherent,  vital  grip  of  ethics  that  we  should 
be  able  here  to  trace  the  interplay  of  historic  event  and  ethical  percep- 
tion. The  same  may  be  said  for  that  study  of  the  ethical  attainments 
of  Israel  before  the  eighth  century  and  the  influences  at  work  which 
secured  them. 

I  am  well  aware  that  this  manner  of  use  of  the  Bible  as  a  text-book 
of  ethics  makes  it  really  a  part  of  the  advanced  studies  of  the  Sem- 


THE  BIBLE  AS  A  TEXT-BOOK  OF  ETHICS  173 

inary.  Such  it  ought  to  be.  Biblical  Theology  comes  naturally  in 
order  after  one  has  practiced  a  sane  method  of  exegesis  according  to 
the  grammatico-historical  method.  The  study  of  BibHcal  Ethics  pre- 
supposes as  much,  since  it  calls  for  exactly  the  same  discipline  in  order 
to  its  correct  furtherance. 

It  is  perhaps  the  misfortune  of  the  two  subdivisions  of  my  subject 
that  they  are  not  reciprocally  exclusive.  One  cannot  secure  fully  the 
historical  perspective  of  Biblical  Ethics  without  at  the  same  time  becom- 
ing conversant  with  the  historical  situation  of  each  stage  of  advance. 
My  purpose  is  not  so  much  to  indicate  a  logical  order  of  study  as  to 
lay  out  the  scope  of  the  work  and  the  relation  of  its  several  parts  to  a 
final  result.  In  turning,  therefore,  to  the  consideration  of  the  second 
requirement,  it  is  to  offer  an  illustration  of  method  which  when  carried 
out  will  demand  the  meeting  of  both  requirements  at  the  same  time. 
The  two  processes,  like  the  grammatical  explanation  and  the  logical 
explanation  in  a  method  of  exegesis,  may  be  separated  for  the  purposes 
of  clearness  in  discussion.  In  actual  praxis  they  must  be  carried  on 
together.  Let  me,  now,  therefore  consider  the  second  requirement  for 
a  scientific  study  of  Biblical  Ethics. 

2.  A  correct  interpretation  of  the  historical  situation.  For  the  illus- 
tration of  this  I  shall  use  the  New  Testament,  and  specifically  the  time 
and  message  of  the  Master.  The  last  thirty  years  of  New  Testament 
study  have  made  us  richly  acquainted  with  the  times  of  Jesus.  We 
have  come  to  understand  Him  as  a  man  of  His  age  as  never  before. 
That  does  not  mean  that  the  universality  of  His  truth  is  less  significant, 
but  rather  that  the  reasons  which  defined  it,  the  purposes  He  had  in 
giving  it,  the  peculiar  forms  in  vyhich  He  gave  it — in  short,  the  whole 
background  of  it — are  brought  into  sharper  definition.  All  this  counts 
for  the  understanding  of  His  ethical  deliverances  and  should  be  pre- 
supposed in  any  scientific  teaching  or  study  of  the  same. 

Above  all,  it  helps  us  to  appreciate  the  meaning  of  His  life,  which 
is,  after  all,  the  Hght  illuminating  all  His  words.  He  grew  up  among 
a  people  whose  whole  conception  of  fife  was  religious;  hence  the  ethics 
of  Jesus  are  wholly  religious.  He  faced  a  ceremonialism  which  was 
the  direct  outcome  of  centuries  of  endeavor  to  make  the  law  fit  to  all 
the  complexities  of  life;  hence  His  ethics  are  wholly  related  to  the 
inward  attitudes  of  the  soul.  He  strove  to  gain  a  hearing  from  those 
whose  minds  were  full  of  the  day-dreams  of  poHtical  supremacy  and 
material  glory;  hence  His  ethics  are  all  rooted  in  the  basal  conception 
of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven.  He  pitied  a  generation  burdened  with 
traditions,  tortured  spiritually  with  a  complex  of  sophistries;  hence  His 


174  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

ethics  are  elemental  and  fundamental.  It  is  these  characteristics  which 
make  His  teachings  on  the  moral  relations  of  men  of  universal  import. 
But  who  is  in  a  position  to  appreciate  them  in  their  simpUcity  and 
fulness  who  does  not  see  how  they  came  to  be,  why  primarily  they  were 
given,  and  how  the  local  and  temporary  features  are  to  be  stripped  from 
them? 

Theorists  today  are  claiming  Jesus  for  nearly  every  phase  of  specu- 
lation. It  is  not  strange  that  His  many-sidedness  has  thus  been  used 
as  points  of  contact  for  varying  views  of  life  and  destiny.  But  it  is 
well  to  remember  that,  in  view  of  all  the  claims  of  the  life  of  His  time — 
in  its  servitude,  political  oppression,  social  excesses,  scrupulous  religiosity, 
and  burden  bearing —Jesus  summed  up  His  whole  ethical  teaching  in 
one  or  two  fundamental  statements,  which  have  in  them  the  "promise 
and  potency"  of  the  correction  of  all  the  immoralities  of  the  world. 

And  here  again  BibHcal  Theology  and  BibHcal  Ethics  come  into 
very  close  relationship.  It  is  the  complete,  resplendent  revelation  of 
the  ethical  side  of  God  that  marks  the  theology  of  the  gospels.  Legal- 
ism was  deistic.  The  whole  of  the  teaching  of  Jesus  regarding  the 
Father  was  meant  to  change  radically  the  thoughts  of  the  Jews  of  His 
time  regarding  Deity.  God  was  brought  near  to  them — made  visible 
and  inteUigible  in  the  purity,  sympathy,  and  self-sacrifice  of  Jesus. 
Upon  the  basis  of  that  revelation  was  built  the  Master's  doctrine  of 
ethics.  Hence,  as  has  well  been  said,  it  is  on  the  basis  of  a  new  life 
expHcable  alone  by  reference  to  the  Father  introduced  and  active  in 
the  world  that  all  Christian  ethical  theory  is  erected.  The  translation 
of  the  spirit,  aim,  and  motive  power  of  that  life  into  any  life  in  any 
age  gives  it  its  ethical  meaning. 

Just  here  we  find  the  starting-point  of  the  apostolic  teaching.  Because 
the  literature  of  the  New  Testament  covers  a  comparatively  small  area 
in  point  of  time,  we  have  no  such  varying  situations  as  are  given  us 
in  the  Old  Testament.  Development  is  more  rapid.  The  importance 
of  the  political  conditions  disappears.  The  unfolding  of  ethical  doc- 
trine comes  more  through  individual  minds  who  have  reflected  upon 
the  facts  of  the  life  of  Jesus  and  His  character.  Indeed,  these  form 
the  common  standard  for  the  interpretation  and  apphcation  of  ethical 
teachings. 

John,  from  long  meditation  upon  the  innermost  meanings  of  Jesus, 
carries  his  interpretation  to  the  profound,  decisive,  conceptions  of  life 
and  judgment.  For  him  all  sin  is  summed  up  in  that  unbelief  which 
shuts  the  heart  against  the  spiritual.  Paul,  coming  to  a  spiritual  under- 
standing of  his  Master  through  the  striking  experiences  of  his  conver- 


THE  BIBLE  AS  A  TEXT-BOOK  OF  ETHICS  175 

sion,  dwells  upon  the  ethics  of  the  new  life  which  everyone  can  have 
in  Christ.  The  writer  of  the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  seeing  in  the 
Messiah  the  tinal  revelation  of  God,  shows  how  duty  springs  from  and 
is  glorified  in  loyalty  to  the  ideals  which  He  has  embodied  and  at  the 
same  time  spiritualized. 

Indeed,  if  one  would  study  scientifically  the  ethics  of  the  New 
Testament,  he  could  do  no  better  than  follow  again  the  divisions  of 
Biblical  Theology  in  the  New  Testament  and  mark  the  presentations 
of  James,  Paul,  Peter,  the  writer  of  the  Hebrews,  and  John.  As  they 
have  one  Master,  they  have  one  standard;  but  the  variety  of  teaching 
is  due  not  only  to  the  difference  of  temperament,  but  also  to  the  vary- 
ing situations  which  each  is  called  to  meet.  James  writing  in  Jerusa- 
lem, while  yet  the  church  is  within  the  bounds  of  the  synagogue  and 
while  the  temple  ritual,  the  Pharisees,  and  the  Sadducees  are  yet  exert- 
ing their  influence,  has  his  problems  to  meet,  and  the  ethics  of  the 
epistle  of  James  have  them  constantly  in  view.  Paul,  face  to  face 
with  the  gentile  world  with  all  its  dark  sins,  rank  superstitions,  and 
misleading  philosophies,  is  called  to  the  settlement  of  one  question  of 
conduct  after  another  by  the  application  of  the  principles  which  he 
finds  embodied  in  the  words  and  work  of  Jesus. 

The  study  of  these  varying  presentations  reveals  a  harmony  of  con- 
ception as  to  the  spirit  and  aims  of  conduct  that  is  like  that  appearing 
in  their  theology  in  its  teachings  regarding  Christ.  The  richness  of 
detail  and  wide  compass  of  illustration  are  due  to  the  situations  which 
called  out  the  teaching.  Jerusalem,  Ephesus,  Galatia,  Corinth,  Rome, 
with  all  their  complexities  of  life,  come  in  for  direction.  They  are  all 
brought  to  the  tests  of  the  teaching  of  the  Master,  and  are  made  to 
see  that  ethics  are  essentially  spiritual,  and  hence  base  themselves  upon 
something  more  fundamental  than  statute  laws  or  moral  maxims.  They 
require  a  regenerated  spirit  in  personal  loyalty  to  Jesus  Christ. 

It  does  not  fall  within  the  scope  of  what  I  have  to  say,  to  unfold 
the  method  by  which  each  apostle  works  out  his  ethics,  starting  from 
this  underlying  conception  and  meeting  the  conditions  he  finds  before 
him.  It  is  not  difficult,  e.  g.,  to  follow  Paul  from  the  perception  which 
his  conversion  made  clear  to  him  regarding  the  relation  of  flesh  and 
spirit  to  his  ethical  world-view.  It  is  not  difficult  to  see  how  John's 
conception  of  Jesus  as  the  exponent  of  the  spiritual  led  him  to  empha- 
size unbelief  as  the  world's  climacteric  sin  and  to  make  his  distinctions 
in  the  broad,  comprehensive  descriptions  of  "light"  and  "darkness." 

The  tracing  of  these  unfoldings  of  doctrine  belong  to  the  detail  of 
the  subject.     It  is,  of  course,  part  of  the  way  over  which  we  must  go  to 


176  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

attain  our  aim  of  making  the  Bible  as  a  text-book  of  ethics  serviceable 
to  students  of  theology.  No  study  of  situation  can  really  omit  this 
work.  As  we  rise  from  it  to  the  clear  understanding  of  the  teaching 
of  an  apostle  as  a  whole;  as  we  secure  the  teaching  of  each  apostle  in 
the  same  way,  compare  them,  and  systematize  their  principles — so  shall 
we  attain  a  knowledge  of  Biblical  Ethics. 

The  aims  and  accomplishments  of  this  study  shall  bring  about  the 
practical  use  of  the  Bible  as  a  text-book  by  setting  forth:  (i)  the  moral 
progress  of  Judaism;  (2)  the  illumination  of  the  way  in  which  Jesus 
ethically  fulfils  the  law  and  the  prophets;  (3)  the  differentia  of  New 
Testament  Ethics;  (4)  the  method  of  the  expansion  and  appHcation  of 
the  principles  of  Jesus. 

Having  gained  all  this  we  then  shall  be  in  a  position:  (i)  to  com- 
pare the  ethics  of  the  Bible,  and  especially  of  Jesus,  with  heathen  sys- 
tems; and  (2)  to  mark  the  differentia  of  Christian  Ethics,  or  the  con- 
tributions of  the  life  of  the  church,  to  the  understanding  of  the  appli- 
cation of  the  ethical  teachings  of  the  New  Testament. 


THE  BIBLE  AS  A  SOURCE   OF  RELIGIOUS  EXPERIENCE 
PROFESSOR  CHARLES  M.  STUART,  D.D., 

GARRETT   BIBLICAL   INSTITUTE,   EVANSTON,   ILLINOIS 

The  theological  student  deals  with  the  Bible  as  a  text-book.  His 
peril  is  that  it  shall  become  to  him  only  a  text-book  and  not  a  nourisher 
of  religious  experience.  The  peril  is  real.  There  is  no  more  common, 
as  there  is  no  more  pathetic,  experience  of  seminary  life  than  the  abate- 
ment, if  not  absolute  loss,  of  relish  for  the  Bible  as  a  manual  of  devotion. 
How  are  we  to  help  the  student  in  this  emergency  ? 

I.  He  must  be  deeply  impressed  with  the  sacramental  character 
of  all  life  in  its  present  environment.  God  has  made  everything  tribu- 
tary to  a  discipline  of  life.  Good  people  with  the  best  but  mistaken 
intent  have  abridged  His  good  purpose  by  emphasizing  and  magnifying 
a  distinction  between  things  sacred  and  things  secular.  One  may  be 
religious  in  his  church  going,  in  his  almsgiving,  in  his  mission  work; 
but  not  in  his  eating  or  drinking,  his  amusement  or  recreation,  his 
mill-owning  or  his  merchandizing.  George  Macdonald  has  an  old 
Scotch  elder  whose  mill  is  in  peril  from  flood,  shocked  beyond  expres- 
sion by  the  suggestion  of  a  devout  neighbor  that  he  should  take  his 
trouble  to  God  in  prayer.  Trouble  the  Almighty  about  a  mill,  for- 
sooth! Theocrite,  of  Browning's  poem,  thought  the  "Praise  God" 
of  his  poor  trade  could  have  no  value  in  the  presence  of  the  Pope's 
"great  way"  of  praising  God  from  Peter's  dome.  Such  a  distinction 
is  utterly  artificial  and  unscriptural.  Whatsoever  we  do  we  may  do 
to  the  glory  of  God;  wherever  we  are  there  we  may  abide  with  God. 
Nothing  is  sacred  of  itself,  as  nothing  is  secular  of  itself.  Its  sacredness 
or  secularity  is  determined  by  our  attitude  toward  it.  A  man  may 
offer  prayer  in  such  mechanical  fashion  that  it  is  no  more  than  unmean- 
ing sound  before  an  unmoved  heaven.  Another  man  may  compel  an 
eager  heaven  to  shed  attending  glory  upon  the  humblest  of  so-called 
"secular"  occupations  because  he  pursues  it  heartily  as  unto  the  Lord. 
Whether  the  Bible,  which  is  only  one  of  many  possible  agencies  in 
seminary  life,  shall  become  sacramental  to  the  student  will  largely 
turn  upon  the  temper  in  which  he  is  disposed  to  regard  his  environment 
as  a  whole.  Paul  found  God  by  means  of  the  voice  and  vision  from 
heaven;  Brother  Lawrence,  when  he  noticed  the  power  of  the  growing 
tree.  All  Hfe,  all  nature,  is  full  of  God  to  the  soul  intent  on  finding 
Him. 

177 


178  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

I,  the  peace  that  passeth  knowledge, 

dwell  amid  the  daily  strife; 
I,  the  bread  of  heaven,  am  broken 

in  the  sacrament  of  life. 
Never  more  thou  needest  seek  me, 

I  am  with  thee  everywhere; 
Raise  the  stone,  and  thou  shall  find  me; 

Cleave  the  wood  and  I  am  there. 

2.  Again,  the  student  must  be  led  to  a  proper  appreciation  of 
literature  as  a  medium  of  spiritual  communication.  In  this  regard 
literature  is  the  most  perfect  instrument  known.  Here,  if  anywhere, 
is  the  meeting  place  of  spirits.  The  only  condition  of  its  revealing  is 
that  it  shall  be  sympathetically  and  spiritually  approached.  Among 
the  Indians  there  is  a  beUef  that  the  vigor  and  strength  of  the  man  you 
conquer  becomes  part  of  your  own  inalienable  inheritance.  The  stu- 
dent should  have  it  made  clear  to  him  that  only  such  books  as  have 
worthy  Hfe  in  them  should  be  taken  up  and  that  they  should  be  taken 
up  with  a  view  to  their  conquest  and  intimate  assimilation.  Even  a 
text-book,  which,  for  the  most  part,  is  the  spirit  of  literature  in  its  lowest 
terms,  may  thus  minister  to  life.  The  student  suffers  greatly  for 
want  of  a  proper  respect  for  Hterature  as  the  communion  of  spirit.  He 
becomes  accustomed  to  regard  his  library  as  a  resort  for  mere  informa- 
tion. Few  are  taught  the  sacredness  of  fellowship  and  friendship 
with  books  as  the  opportunity  for  companionship  with  the  spirits  of 
God's  best  and  highest  in  all  ages. 

3.  Once  more,  the  student  should  have  made  quite  clear  to  him 
that  in  literature  the  Bible  has  a  unique  supremacy  as  an  instrument 
of  life.  This  must  be  made  clear  to  him  in  the  most  obvious,  per- 
suasive and  permanent  way.  An  indifferent  estimate  of  the  Bible's 
power  upon  life  is  exactly  what  begets  the  tendency  to  use  the  Book 
indifferently.  If  the  student  is  not  made  to  feel  the  power  of  the  Bible 
as  a  minister  of  life  to  him,  he  can  neither  cherish  it  himself  supremely 
nor  urge  it  upon  others  confidently.  The  present  and  sensible  mani- 
festations of  religious  experience  are  clearness  of  spiritual  vision, 
steadiness  of  aspiring  devotion,  intensity  and  loftiness  of  moral  purpose. 
Is  the  power  of  the  Bible  recognized  as  operating  in  him  toward  these 
ends?  To  this,  every  student,  when  occasion  demands,  should  be 
required  to  give  the  clear-cut  answer.  He  is  self-condemned  if  no 
clear-cut  answer  is  forthcoming.  It  is  not  at  all  necessary  to  discredit 
other  literature  while  maintaining  the  supremacy  of  the  Bible.  In 
the  presence  of  the  sun  one  may  recognize  the  place  and  utiHty  of  other 
light-giving  bodies.     An  ordinary  sense  of  proportion  should  prevent 


THE  BIBLE  AND  RELIGIOUS  EXPERIENCE  179 

any  man  from  the  conceit  of  rating  the  Bible  as  a  mere  book  among 
books.  A  man  who  disdains  receiving  access  of  spiritual  life  from 
any  source,  pagan  or  Christian,  is  poorly  qualified  for  the  responsible 
work  of  religious  teaching;  while  the  man  who  does  not  feel  the  solitary 
supremacy  of  the  Bible  among  other  devotional  books  has  in  that 
fact  the  indubitable  proof  of  his  utter  unfitness  for  a  gospel  ministry. 

4.  In  addition  to  these  general  considerations,  the  student  may  be 
helped  to  a  better  appreciation  of  the  Bible  as  a  source  of  rehgious 
experience  by  specific  suggestions: 

(i)  To  cultivate  perfect  familiarity  with  the  text  of  Scripture  in  the 
light  of  the  best  aids  to  interpretation. 

(2)  To  cultivate  the  habit  of  making  proof  of  Scripture  truth  by 
applying  it  to  his  own  life  and  experience. 

(3)  To  remember  that,  after  all,  the  Bible  is  a  source  of  religious 
experience  only  in  an  accommodated  sense  of  the  word  "source."  The 
Bible  is  a  channel  for  the  play  of  God's  Spirit  upon  man's  spirit,  and 
it  is  God's  Spirit  which  is  the  actual  and  only  sjource  of  religious  life. 
"All  true  growth  in  religion,  whether  in  the  past  or  the  present,  springs 
from  the -communion  of  man  with  the  immediate  loving  God." 

(4)  To  remember  that  the  worth,  beauty,  and  power  of  the  Bible 
grow  in  proportion  to  our  own  growth  in  spiritual  temper  and  habit 
of  mind. 

Take  all  in  a  word:    the  Truth  in  God's  breast 

Lies  trace  for  trace  upon  ours  impressed; 
Though  He  is  so  bright  and  we  are  so  dim, 

We  are  made  in  His  image  to  witness  Him. 


IV.    CHURCHES  AND  PASTORS 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  USE  OF  THE  BIBLE  BY  THE 
PASTOR 

REV.  SPENSER  B.  MEESER,  D.D., 

PASTOR   WOODWARD   AVENUE   BAPTIST   CHURCH,    DETROIT,   MICHIGAN 

Unless  the  Bible  be  regarded  as  the  instrument  of  magic  and  incan- 
tation, any  use  of  it  must  be  rational.  Further,  any  rational  use  of  it 
involves  an  intimate  knowledge  of  its  content,  method,  and  purpose. 
It  would  seem  to  be  true  on  the  face  of  it  that  any  teacher  of  the  Bible 
should  know  the  Book  in  its  moral  and  religious  substance  and  aim.  It 
is  this  aspect  of  the  theme,  however,  which  I  am  asked  to  treat. 

There  may  be  some  ministers  who,  while  they  regard  teaching 
as  one  function  of  their  office,  would  claim  that  their  chief  function  is 
to  proclaim  "the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ;"  and  that  they  need  absolutely 
know  only  that,  or  so  much  of  the  Bible  as  is  needful  intelligently  to 
proclaim  that  Gospel.  And  there  are  some  who,  never  having  made 
such  a  claim,  are  more  or  less  consciously  guided  by  that  idea. 

Permissible  as  such  an  idea  may  be  for  one  who  regards  his  ministry 
as  that  of  the  evangelist  alone  (though  I  am  far  from  ready  to  admit 
that  such  an  idea  is  permissible  even  in  such  a  case),  no  minister  can  well 
accept  such  a  conception  of  his  relation  to  the  Bible  who  has  regard  for 
the  too  often  neglected  functions  of  prophecy,  teaching,  leadership, 
instruction  in  righteousness,  and  shepherding  the  flock. 

The  prophetic  function,  even  if  a  man  regard  it  possible  to  receive 
at  first  hand  the  message  or  word  of  God,  carries  in  it  an  imperative  to 
know  what  God  has  spoken  by  prophets  long  gone,  and  forbids  the  atti- 
tude of  one  who  would  speak  for  God  in  nothing  uttered  by  the  accredited 
prophets  of  the  past.  God  has  spoken.  He  is  not  dumb.  He  will 
speak  again.  But  it  became  Him,  the  Greater  than  the  prophets,  in 
speaking  for  God,  not  to  be  ignorant  of  the  truth  once  spoken;  and  it 
cannot  be  becoming  to  any  of  His  followers  to  ignore  that  speech. 

No  wisdom  of  experience  or  of  science  can  absolve  the  minister,  as 
leader,  from  the  blunder  of  being  unacquainted  with  the  problems  of 
leadership,  or  the  methods  and  experience  of  the  leaders  whose  mission 
and  triumphs  are  recorded  in  the  Bible.  To  ignore  this  wealth  of  wis- 
dom, acquired  by  men  whose  claim  to  guidance  by  God  is  so  credible, 
would  be  inexcusable. 

i8o 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  USE  OF  THE  BIBLE  i8i 

As  instructor  in  righteousness,  the  supreme  hope  that  the  minister 
will  not  be  controlled  by  considerations  of  questions  of  casuistry  and 
announce  as  eternal  principles  the  expediencies  of  occasions;  or  that  he 
will  not  be  caught  in  the  age-spirit  of  his  time  and  be  deflected  by  the 
literary  ideals  of  his  day;  the  assurance  that  he  will  not  be  led  to  pro- 
claim the  idiosyncrasies  of  his  own  moral  temperament  as  fundamentals 
of  moral  law,  is  that  he  will  be  intimately  acquainted  with  the  treasures 
of  the  ideals  of  righteousness,  the  morally  commendable  types,  and  the 
ethical  principles  which  have  been  approved  by  all  ages  and  nations  as 
of  eternal  worth  and  universal  application,  and  which  are  embodied  in 
the  Holy  Scriptures. 

For  his  work  as  pastor  he  will  forever  need  that  knowledge  of  reli- 
gious experience  the  record  of  which  we  have,  in  all  the  stages  of  the 
developing  Hfe  of  man,  in  the  Bible.  It  is  not  only  an  abundant  record, 
but  a  record  embracing  almost  every  type  of  life,  in  all  their  stages, 
which  carry  with  them  the  types  of  a  wise  ministry  for  their  reproof,  their 
correction,  and  their  instruction  in  righteousness.  Here  is  an  indis- 
pensable treatise  on  the  pathology  of  moral  and  religious  disease.  To 
be  ignorant  of  it  as  a  pastor  is  to  be  a  quack.  Possibly  this  is  the  explana- 
tion of  the  crude  assortment  of  religious  nostrums  which  aflSict  Chris- 
tianity today. 

For  the  teacher  of  the  Bible  it  should  pass  with  the  saying  that  knowl- 
edge, intimate,  careful  knowledge,  is  indispensable.  Perhaps  we  can 
best  see  the  force  of  all  these  suggestions  by  regarding  the  educational 
content  of  the  Bible. 

1.  It  is  plainly  a  literature,  a  collection  of  books  of  varied  nature, 
but  without  exception  spiritual  and  moral  in  their  content  and  aim. 
All  of  these  grew  out  of  the  experience,  or  arose  in  the  life,  of  a  people 
believed  to  have  been  the  chosen  of  God  to  serve  the  race.  They  con- 
stitute a  theocratic  literature;  that  is,  a  literature  always  dominated  by 
a  moral  purpose,  a  spiritual  content,  a  religious  object.  Compared 
with  anything  else  in  literature,  the  Bible  is  eminently  the  Book  of  God. 

2.  The  Bible  records  revelations  which  are  in  effect  one  revelation — 
a  revelation  which,  beginning  simple  and  broad,  is  fitted  to  the  elemental 
problems  of  the  people's  life.  This  word,  while  apparently  opportunist, 
is  constantly  moving  according  to  a  program,  far  ahead  of  the  people, 
toward  the  last  number,  which  is  the  perfect  revelation  in  Jesus  Christ. 
The  Bible,  while  always  representing  the  spirit  of  the  time  in  which  the 
events  recorded  are  said  to  have  taken  place,  nevertheless  ever  presents 
ethical  ideals,  as  in  the  mind  of  the  author,  if  not  in  the  conscience  of 
the  people,  which  furnish  a  goal  to  be  reached.     That  is,  they  are  never 


i82  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

merely  a  historical  account  of  experiences  and  events;  they  contain 
within  them  an  ethical  impulse  and  an  ethical  ideal.  The  Bible  is  the 
record  of  this  progressing,  expanding  revelation.  It  is  thus  both  a  litera- 
ture and  a  revelation. 

3.  The  Bible  is  the  evidence  from  history  that  God  is  concerned 
with  and  is  active  in  the  Hfe  of  man.  It  is  evidence  that  righteousness 
is  a  relevant  consideration  in  life,  and  that  in  the  conduct  of  nations  and 
men  the  supreme  consideration  is,  what  is  good  ?  what  is  right  ? 

4.  But  the  Bible  not  only  represents  God's  activity  among  the 
people;  it  shows  the  effects  of  His  inspiration  on  the  heart  and  mind 
of  the  noblest  among  them.  The  Scriptures  are  a  history  of  the 
religious  aspirations  and  hopes  of  the  inspired  people. 

5.  So  that  the  Bible  comes  to  be  also  a  rescript  of  the  nation's  con- 
science, illumined  by  the  Spirit  of  God.  Men,  filled  with  aspiration 
after  holiness,  and  with  fresh  vision  of  life  from  the  heights  to  which 
God  had  lifted  them,  spoke  forth  the  law  of  God  which  they  had  learned 
in  secret  communion  with  the  Great  Spirit,  and  the  love  of  Jehovah 
which  they  had  experienced  in  their  own  souls. 

6.  The  Bible  is  the  plain  delineation  of  truths  which  men  see 
vaguely  in  conscience,  the  clear  interpretation  of  man's  moral  sense. 

7.  Thus  it  is  that  the  Bible  is  a  rich  depository  of  noble  moral 
precepts,  lofty  spiritual  principles,  elevated  religious  experiences,  and 
songs  of  holy  aspiration. 

8.  Realizing  this,  we  understand  the  Bible  also  to  be  the  history  of 
the  people  of  God — the  people  who  have  become  the  moral  leaders  of 
the  world  and  who  have  given  religion  to  the  world ;  it  is  the  story  of  the 
training  of  a  nation  for  the  training  of  the  world;  the  training  of  a 
nation  out  of  polytheism  and  idolatry  into  the  worship  of  God  the 
Spirit,  the  only  true  God;  the  training  of  a  nation  into  moral  and  spiritual 
conceptions,  to  the  perception  and  appreciation  of  the  moral  quality 
of  actions,  to  see  the  moral  substance  in  both  aspects  of  duty — duty  to 
God,  and  duty  to  man.  It  took  many  hundreds  of  years,  but  that 
nation  has  made  the  world  pause  before  each  action  to  ask  whether  it  be 
right  or  wrong  in  the  sight  of  God.  What  was  good  for  that  nation  is 
indispensable  for  us. 

9.  In  its  New  Testament  part  the  Bible  is  the  writing  of  the  revela- 
tion of  Jesus  Christ,  His  person,  life,  teaching,  and  work.  Here  is  the 
story  of  God's  Son,  in  His  earthly  life ;  the  revelation  of  the  last  and  hohest 
law,  the  law  of  love;  the  revelation  of  the  supreme  and  hoHest  purpose 
of  God,  the  salvation  of  the  soul  through  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  the  com- 
plete and  full  revelation  of  a  blessed  endless  hfe;  of  the  rich  and  blessed 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  USE  OF  THE  BIBLE  183 

immortality;  of  man's  kinship  with  God  in  the  incarnation;  of  man's 
reunion  with  Him  in  eternal  life.  It  is  the  revelation  of  the  now  perfect 
morality,  the  perfect  truth,  the  perfect  salvation.  It  is  the  story  of  an 
infinite  pity;  of  an  inexpressible  love;  of  the  holiest  life  to  be  hvcd;  of 
the  way  to  perfect  peace;  of  the  way  to  a  well-based  hope.  It  is  the  story 
of  a  Redeemer  from  sin  and  death,  a  great  gospel  of  salvation.  It  is 
the  story  of  God's  self-revelation,  God  opening  to  view  His  mind,  His 
heart,  His  will.  It  is  the  Holy  of  Holies  of  literature  and  revelation, 
where  the  wings  of  cherubim  and  seraphim  encompass  the  being  of  God, 
and  we  see  Him  face  to  face. 

10.  It  is  the  history,  this  New  Testament  part,  of  the  Christian 
church  in  its  earliest  years;  of  its  struggles  in  patience  and  faith;  of  the 
fulfilled  promise  of  the  Nazarene  preacher;  of  the  confirmation  of  faith 
in  God  and  in  Christ. 

II  It  is,  this  New  Testament  part,  the  history  of  the  developing 
Christian  doctrines,  the  world-wide  interpretation  of  Jesus  Christ  into 
the  needs  and  weakness  of  mankind.  It  is  the  compendium  of  Christian 
teaching,  the  application  of  God's  love,  the  new  law,  to  the  whole  of  life. 
Here  are  the  superior  Christian  precepts,  the  Christian  ethics,  the  moral- 
ity of  Christ,  the  other  law  of  divine  love  to  God  and  man. 

12.  It  gives  a  ghmpse  into  the  far  future,  with  a  vision  of  the  final 
triumph  of  Jesus  Christ  and  the  salvation  of  the  world.  It  is  a  still 
farther  glimpse  into  the  future  of  another  world,  when  there  shall  be  no 
more  light;  when  those  who  are  gathered  there  shall  hunger  no  more, 
neither  thirst  any  more,  and  when  there  shall  be  no  more  death;  and 
where  God  shall  wipe  away  all  tears  from  their  eyes. 

Comprehensively  regarded,  the  Bible  is  a  program  of  the  religious 
life  indicating  the  way  and  the  conditions  of  finding  God  in  every  time 
and  clime.  It  is  such  a  book  of  religion  as  serves  for  the  inspiration 
and  suggestion  of  religion,  inspiring  the  human  soul  to  desire,  suggesting 
the  spiritual  possibihties  of  the  heart,  and  opening  the  life  to  God's 
activity.  It  is  the  compacted  moral  and  spiritual  experiences  of  the 
race  in  its  most  moral  and  spiritual  people  in  their  most  elevated  moral 
and  spiritual  moments,  when  consciously  in  the  presence  of  and  under 
the  power  of  God.  It  is  the  critique  of  the  moral  and  spiritual  experi- 
ences of  man;  the  conserver  of  religion  to  keep  it  moral;  the  elemental, 
primal  experience  with  God ;  and  so  serves  as  the  norm  of  all  religion. 
Intimate  knowledge  of  the  Bible  in  its  spiritual  and  moral  content  would 
appear  indispensable  by  these  general  considerations  of  its  character. 

But  there  is  another  phase  of  the  minister's  knowledge  of  the  Book 
involved  in  his  educational  use  of  it,  namely,  something  concerned  with 


i84  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

the  objective  basis  of  authority  for  the  Bible,  the  historical  and  Hterary 
integrity  of  the  Scriptures,  and  the  trustworthiness  of  their  teachings. 
Something  of  this  worth  and  integrity  depends  on  their  historicity  and 
authorship;  something  on  whether  they  do  represent  the  actual  experi- 
ences of  those  to  whom  they  are  ascribed,  or  are  compilations,  poetic 
and  religious  fancies,  or  myths  with  moral  and  rehgious  concept  and 
purpose. 

For  authority  in  religion  cannot  be  grounded  alone  in  the  assent  of 
moral  and  religious  consciousness.  It  must  have  an  objective  basis  in 
fact,  in  historical  fact.  Authority  in  religion  has  been  exercised  in  the 
past  and  will  be  in  the  future;  it  depends  upon  historical  continuity  for 
its  perpetuation  among  men.  It  existed  before  the  religious  conscious- 
ness was  developed,  and  must  have  its  ground  in  something  eternal  and 
something  historical.  No  doubt  the  recognition  and  expression  of  that 
authority  depends  upon  an  approving  soul.  Moral  authority  to  be 
moral  necessitates  the  consent  of  the  governed.  But  it  has  existence 
in  objective  reality,  or  there  is  nothing  to  assent  to,  save  one's  own  will. 
That  is  the  end  of  religion  and  the  burlesque  of  authority.  Moral  obliga- 
tion has  its  ultimate  basis  in  personality,  and  arises  in  the  relation  of 
persons.     The  other  Person  is  a  real  God. 

To  base  the  authority  of  the  Bible  in  the  assent  of  a  moral  and 
religious  consciousness,  that  is  mainly,  if  not  wholly,  a  product  of  the 
Bible's  own  conception  of  God,  Jesus  Christ,  and  moral  obligation  is 
simply  to  approve  a  thing  by  itself,  and  reasons  in  a  circle.  Without 
the  objective  reality  in  personality  and  in  history  authority  is  pure 
subjectivity,  mainly  sentimental  and  temperamental.  On  this  basis, 
the  ethnic  faiths  have  as  trustworthy  a  reason  for  the  authority  of  their 
sacred  books  as  has  the  Bible.  Unless  the  Scriptures  be  objectively 
true,  and  the  moral  principles  rest  upon  reahty,  historical  reahty  and 
personal  reahty,  quite  above  the  moral  and  religious  consciousness 
of  Christendom,  the  Bible  has  no  greater  claim  to  authority  than  the 
Koran  or  the  books  of  the  Vedas;  and  can  have  real  power  over  those 
only  who  have  abandoned  religious  thinking  to  the  concepts  of  the 
Bible  itself.  Without  the  assent  of  the  moral  consciousness  of  man 
the  Bible  is  no  more  than  history,  however  interesting  and  beautiful. 
But  equally  true  is  it  that  if  the  Bible  have  no  basis  in  historic  reahty, 
even  the  moral  consent  of  Christendom  cannot  make  it  more  than  reh- 
gious sentiment. 

The  educational  use  of  the  Bible  involves  the  use  of  it  as  religious 
authority,  quite  as  much  as  it  includes  the  use  of  it  for  religious  inspira- 
tion ;  and  the  problems  of  its  basis  in  historical  reality  and  the  reliability 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  USE  OF  THE  BIBLE  185 

of  its  records  is  one  of  the  first  importance.  The  question  of  the 
literary  and  historical  integrity  of  the  Scriptures  is  therefore  a  question 
(i)  of  the  reahty  of  the  experiences  recorded  and  the  truth  of  the  prin- 
ciples based  on  them;  (2)  of  the  validity  of  their  claim  to  be  the  moral 
guide  of  men;  and  (3)  of  the  moral  trustworthiness  of  those  who  teach 
them. 

I  regard  it  as  of  primary  importance  to  his  own  moral  worth  as  a 
minister  that  the  minister  should  know  the  Bible  and  the  facts  about  it, 
quite  as  much  as  related  to  the  questions  of  its  historicity  and  its  literary 
integrity,  as  to  the  questions  of  its  spiritual  and  moral  substance.  He 
should  know  the  Book  and  the  facts  about  it,  that  he  may  relate  them 
to  the  conscience  and  spiritual  life  of  men.  He  should  frankly  face  the 
facts  in  and  about  the  Bible,  rather  than  carry  to  it  theories  of  the  nature 
of  inspiration  which  require  him  to  resort  to  untenable  interpretations 
of  truth,  or  to  wring  out  of  shape  and  context  facts  clearly  demonstrated, 
or  to  ignore  facts.  It  would  be  difficult  to  overestimate  the  importance 
of  the  minister's  effort  to  approach  the  Bible  in  absolute  intellectual 
sincerity,  and  from  it  to  approach  men  with  the  consciousness  of  hav- 
ing done  so,  that  he  may  stand  in  an  unquestionably  correct  moral 
attitude  toward  them.  It  is  not  said  that  the  minister  ought  to  accept 
all,  or  any,  of  the  results  of  the  modern  reconstruction  of  the  Bible 
(some  he  can  scarcely  fail  to  accept,  they  are  so  compelling  in  character 
and  force) ;  but  he  ought  to  endeavor  to  understand  the  reconstructive 
processes,  that  he  may  either  embody  the  results  in  his  own  thinking 
with  intellectual  appreciation,  or  be  able  to  know  that  he  has  intelli- 
gently rejected  them. 

May  the  minister  ignore  the  results  and  the  processes  of  this  recon- 
struction in  his  public  work  ?  Shall  the  truth  be  withheld  because  some 
may  be  weakened  in  their  uninstructed  faith,  or  may  misuse  the  prin- 
ciples to  justify  error  ?  Those  who  care  more  for  the  truth  in  itself  than 
for  the  weak  in  faith,  or  those  who  have  in  mind  the  breaking  down  of 
faith,  will  not  hesitate  to  make  known  the  results  of  historical  and 
literary  examination.  The  schools,  the  universities,  the  magazines, 
and  the  publishers  will  not  restrain  the  truth.  Were  it  not  better  that 
the  minister  did  sympathetically,  and  with  his  peculiar  advantage  in 
his  personal  knowledge  of  his  people,  make  known  such  principles  and 
results  as  are  accredited,  than  that  unsympathetic  sources  should  supply 
the  information  ?  As  a  matter  of  principle,  we  have  the  example  of 
Jesus,  who  did  not  withhold  the  truth,  though  it  struck  at  the  form  and 
the  heart  of  the  Pharisaic  theology,  which  was  the  people's  theology. 
If  the  minister  keep  still,  he  is  likely  to  be  regarded,  either  as  impressed 


i86  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

too  deeply  with  the  effect  of  such  criticism,  or  of  being  so  ignorant  of  it 
that  his  opinion  is  not  worth  the  while.  This  frank  method  also  relieves 
him  of  the  suspicion  of  using  a  book,  whose  integrity  is  in  doubt,  as  a 
moral  guide  and  compendium  of  spiritual  needs  and  destiny  of  the  immor- 
tal soul,  and  enables  him  to  place  himself  in  open  moral  trustworthiness 
before  the  members  of  his  flock.  Nor  is  it  a  light  matter  that  he  should 
not  be  regarded  as  ignorant  of  the  real  character  of  the  Bible,  or  as 
capable  of  playing  false  with  the  hopes  and  longings  of  mankind. 

As  the  simplest  and  most  direct  manner  of  accompHshing  a  frank 
ministry  in  this  respect,  the  minister  should  adopt  and  embody  in  his 
use  of  the  Bible  such  conclusions  of  the  historical  and  literary  recon- 
struction of  the  Bible  as  appear  to  him  to  be  well  founded,  be  they  few 
or  many,  and  should  commend  these,  showing  reasons  in  simple  apolo- 
getic fashion,  rather  than  by  caustic  criticism  or  witty  sallies,  so  as  to 
give  to  his  people  the  larger  truth  in  the  atmosphere  of  his  own  spiritual 
life.  He  should  lead  his  people  to  see  such  reconstructions  as  are  very 
apparent,  such  as  the  authorship  and  titles  of  Psalms,  embodied  in  some 
measure  in  the  American  revision;  and  the  multiple  authorship  of  the 
Proverbs  of  Solomon,  a  fact  acknowledged  in  the  very  text  of  the  King 
James  Version;  which  I  mention  as  simply  indicating  the  beginnings  of 
such  a  frank  ministry. 

The  minister  should  seek  in  himself  and  in  others  the  temper  of  mind 
toward  what  is  inevitable  in  this  reconstruction,  so  that  he  shall  not  pre- 
sent painful  surprises  such  as  devitalize  the  faith  of  the  initiate.  This 
is  largely  a  temper  of  mind,  whatever  theory  of  inspiration  and  the  Bible 
may  be  back  of  it,  and  may  be  produced  in  a  church  from  the  minister's 
own  attitude.  Promptly,  if  tentatively,  he  should  make  some  hypothesis 
that  will  be  based  on  the  possibihty  of  the  inevitable  need  of  reconstruc- 
tion, and  thus  find  for  himself  the  basis  for  an  equable  temper  of  mind 
and  an  unbroken,  if  a  changed,  faith.  In  this  attitude  of  confidence,  a 
confidence  in  God  and  the  eternal  moral  realities,  both  he  and  his  people 
can  meet  the  problems  of  reconstruction  without  loss  of  faith  in  the  Bible, 
or  reverence  for  it;  as  thousands  before  him  have  done.  In  the  main, 
the  historical  and  literary  reconstruction  has  been  made  a  bogy  by  igno- 
rance of,  and  unintelligent  lack  of  appreciation  of,  the  methods  and  aims 
it  has  in  view. 

The  fact  is,  the  ground  is  much  more  prepared  for  the  seed  of  this 
reconstruction  than  many  are  aware,  by  the  growing  familiarity  of  the 
people  with  revisions  of  the  ancient  text.  They  already  know,  and  are 
learning  more  in  colleges,  universities,  and  even  in  high  schools,  as  well 
as  in  general  literature,  about  the  variant  texts,  the  possible  interpola- 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  USE  OF  THE  BIBLE  187 

tions,  the  variety  of  translations,  and  the  modernity  of  the  oldest  manu- 
scripts. Paraphrases  of  all  sorts  have  familiarized  them  with  other 
than  the  verbal  theory  of  inspiration,  which  is  the  main  basis  of  the 
uncritical  disposition;  while  the  English  and  American  revisions,  espe- 
cially the  latter,  are  growing  in  worth  to  all  appreciative  minds;  and 
these  embody  some  of  the  results  of  the  reconstruction.  So  that,  with 
these  as  a  beginning,  the  minister  is  invested  with  the  authority  of  the 
Book  itself.  Painfully  evident  it  is  to  me  that  the  old  method  of  nur- 
turing people  on  their  illusions  of  rehgion,  and  of  seeking  high  moral 
character  with  a  morally  defenseless  creed,  must  be  abandoned  before 
the  Bible  can  have  its  old,  or  a  higher,  place  such  as  it  ought  to  have. 

Illusion  may  have  a  mission  in  religion,  so  long  as  neither  minister 
nor  people  are  aware  of  the  illusion;  and  to  maintain  a  faith  based  on 
supposed  facts  by  ignoring  or  suppressing  the  charge  that  the  supposed 
facts  are  not  real  facts  may  have  some  sort  of  ethical  justification  in  some 
minds;  but  where  is  either  the  wisdom  or  the  morale  of  such  procedures 
when  minister  or  people  have  had  a  light  which  dispels  the  illusion,  and 
some  incontrovertible  facts  have  caused  the  supposed  facts  to  be  sus- 
pected ?  To  bear  about  in  our  hearts  a  piety  based  on  sacred  illusions 
is  not  rehgion,  and  subjects  one's  ministry  to  the  righteous  contempt  of 
intelligent  men  and  women;  while  to  keep  a  people's  faith  steady  by 
keeping  them  ignorant  of  the  reasons  for  doubting  their  faith  only 
increases  the  possibihty  of  disastrous  loss  of  that  faith  some  day,  and 
seems  unworthy  of  the  vocation  of  the  minister  of  righteousness.  Pascal's 
maxim,  so  oft  quoted,  contains  the  elemental  duty:  "The  first  of  Chris- 
tian truths  is  that  truth  should  be  loved  above  all."  Should  we  not 
make  up  our  minds  that  rehgion  shall  at  least  speak  the  truth  ? 

With  the  people  illusion  may  have  power  until  the  truth  is  seen  or 
the  illusion  suspected.  With  that  the  power  is  gone.  On  the  teacher's 
side,  while  studied  and  wilful  lack  of  information  may  work  for  a  time 
by  his  refusal  to  hear  the  challenge  to  his  faith,  the  chief  and  essential 
result  is  at  the  roots  of  his  own  moral  integrity,  and  the  unfitting  of  the 
man  as  a  moral  teacher.  With  the  people,  it  finally  works  loss  of  con- 
fidence and  respect;  the  suspicion  that  religion  is  fraudulent,  that  an 
esoteric  skepticism  is  held  by  teachers  and  preachers  who  preach  the 
current  faith  for  revenue  only;  and,  finally,  skepticism  on  their  part  of 
all  revelation  and  religion. 

Here  then  also,  in  its  origin,  sources,  authorship,  historicity,  and 
moral  integrity,  it  is  indispensable  that  the  minister  should  know  his 
Bible  and  tell  the  whole  truth  about  it. 


THE  HOMILETIC  USE  OF  THE  BIBLE 
PROFESSOR  EDWARD  C.  MOORE,  D.D., 

HARVARD  UNIVERSITY,   CAMBRIDGE,   MASSACHUSETTS 

The  chief  preparation  for  preaching  is  gathered  out  of  the  Book 
which  all  the  ages  have  agreed  to  call  the  Book  of  Life.  It  comes 
through  the  prayer  and  fellowship  with  Christ  and  communion  with 
God  to  which  the  study  of  this  Book  leads.  Men  have  used  that  phrase 
"Book  of  Life"  sometimes  in  a  remote  sense,  as  if  they  meant  by  it 
the  book  of  some  other  life  than  this  one,  or  the  book  of  some  strange 
and  remote  phases  of  this  life.  Oh  no,  not  that.  The  real  Book  it  is, 
of  the  real  experience  of  mankind,  in  its  highest  struggles  after  truth, 
in  the  utterance  of  its  most  glorious  aspiration,  in  the  answer  of  God 
to  the  cry  of  His  children,  above  all,  the  answer  of  God  through  the 
Word  and  Life  of  the  one  perfect  man,  the  Son  of  God,  the  Savior  of 
the  world.  It  is  in  this  sense  that  the  Bible  is  the  Book  of  Life,  and 
that  famiharity  with  it  is  the  great  preparation  of  men  who  preach  to 
living  men.  It  is  the  honest  record  of  the  struggles  of  men  like  our- 
selves to  find  the  truth  and  to  do  the  good ;  and  above  all  it  is  the  record 
of  the  manifestation  to  us  of  the  one  Life  which  was  divinely  good,  the 
Life  which  was  the  light  of  men. 

No  one  can  preach  from  this  Book  who  has  no  sense  of  the  reality 
of  its  inspiration,  no  humble  and  reverent  acknowledgment  of  its  reality 
as  a  revelation.  And  yet  we  may  frankly  say  that  we  construe  its 
inspiration  and  its  revelation  very  differently  from  that  manner  in  which 
we  ourselves  may  in  former  years  have  understood  these  things.  And 
surely  we  understand  these  things  in  a  way  very  different  from  that 
in  which  prevailingly  men  of  past  generations  understood  them.  They 
did  not  reckon  with  the  facts  of  human  history  touching  the  origin  of 
the  Bible,  record  of  which  facts  is  yet  in  all  these  writings  clearly  to 
be  seen.  They  did  not  reckon  with  the  human  qualities  of  the  Book, 
which  are  yet  wholly  obvious.  They  did  not  reckon  with  the  indi- 
vidual characteristics  of  the  men  who  wrote,  and  with  the  conditions, 
the  circumstances,  and  the  needs  of  those  for  whom  they  wrote.  They 
did  not  realize  that  often  the  majesty  of  God  is  voiced  through  some 
true  man  and  bears  all  the  impress  of  the  nature  of  that  man,  and 
with  it  the  impress  of  the  current  cultivation  of  his  age,  and  of  the 
experience  of  humanity  in  his  time  and  place.  And  when  these  latter 
facts  grew  obvious  to  men,  so  obvious  that  they  could  not  any  longer 


THE  HOMILETIC  USE  OF  THE  BIBLE  189 

be  ignored,  many  men  rushed  to  the  conclusion  that  there  could  then 
be  no  true  revelation,  no  true  inspiration,  no  diviner  quality  in  these 
books  at  all;  that  if  the  books  have  had,  so  clearly  as  they  have,  a  human 
origin  and  history,  then  it  was  all  over  vi^ith  the  claim  of  their  divine 
origin  and  authority.  Many  men  have  thus  made  shipwreck  of  their 
faith  in  the  Book  as  the  Word  of  God. 

And  yet  to  us  it  has  grown  altogether  obvious  that  the  one  of  these 
truths  does  not  exclude  the  other.  If  man  himself  is  inexplicable,  save 
as  sharing  in  the  wider  life  of  a  universal  reason;  if  the  process  of  his- 
tory be  realized  as  but  the  working  out  of  inherent  and  divine  purposes, 
the  expression  of  an  indwelling  divine  force;  then  revelation  denotes  no 
longer  an  interference  from  without  in  that  development,  but  it  becomes 
the  normal  method  of  expressing  the  relations  of  the  immanent  Spirit  of 
God  to  the  children  of  men  at  the  crisis  of  their  fate.  Then  revelation 
and  inspiration  are  experiences  of  men  precisely  in  the  line  and  by 
the  method  of  all  their  greater  and  nobler  experiences.  Then  inspira- 
tion is  reasonable  and  moral.  It  lies  in  the  line  of  everything  else  that 
is  reasonable  and  moral  in  man's  life.  It  becomes  unthinkable  that 
God  should  not  reveal  Himself,  or  that  man  should  rise  to  the  highest 
pitch  of  his  moral  aspiration  and  endeavor,  and  to  the  sublimest  level 
of  his  spiritual  life,  without  receiving  revelation  from  that  God  who 
is  not  far  from  every  one  of  us,  in  whom  we  live  and  move  and  have 
our  being.  Such  an  experience  was  that  of  prophets,  poets,  lawgivers, 
under  the  ancient  covenant.  Such  an  experience  in  an  immeasurably 
greater  degree  was  that  of  Jesus  Christ  Himself. 

But  it  needs  no  saying  that  to  such  a  theory  of  Scripture  the  very 
strength  of  the  Scripture  in  its  homiletic  use  lies  in  its  human  quality. 
It  is  not  as  if  that  human  quality  excluded  the  divine — quite  the  con- 
trary. It  is  that  human  quality,  it  is  that  truth  of  the  Bible  to  the 
human  experience  at  its  greatest  and  its  best,  which  is  the  index  of 
the  divine.  It  is  that  truth  of  the  Bible  to  the  human  experience;  it 
is  its  reflection  of  our  best  endeavors,  and  equally  of  our  failures  and 
our  sins;  it  is  its  fidelity  in  depiction  of  our  struggles  after  righteous- 
ness, and  equally  in  the  sternness  of  its  judgment  of  our  follies  and 
our  crimes,  that  makes  it  evermore  the  voice  of  God  to  the  soul  of 
man.  And  so  far  from  having  lost  any  of  its  power  as  a  book  to  be 
preached  from,  it  seems  to  me  that  it  has  gained  immeasurably  for 
the  modem  preacher.  Precisely  with  the  newest  view  of  Scripture 
comes  all  this  wealth  and  power  and  naturalness  of  its  appeal  to  all 
that  is  great  and  true  in  human  nature.  It  is  the  appeal  of  God  to 
man  through  the  human  nature  of  the  saints  of  old,  and,  shall  we  not 


iQo  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

say  also,  through  the  matchless  perfection  of  the  human  nature  of  our 
Lord  and  Savior  Jesus  Christ? 

Men  have  said  sometimes:  "What  can  one  do  v^^ith  the  Old  Testa- 
ment in  preaching  ?  Is  not  the  theological  truth  of  the  Old  Testament 
in  large  part  superseded  by  the  revelation  of  the  New?"  Well,  if 
one  has  no  thought  beyond  preaching  theology,  perhaps  this  is  true. 
But  if  that  which  in  preaching  we  desire  to  do  is  to  appeal  to  life,  to 
touch  the  depths  of  genuine  religious  experience,  and  to  see  how  God 
led  men,  mistaken,  falling,  sinful  like  ourselves,  yet  led  them  by  paths 
of  service  to  Himself,  then  are  there  any  more  wonderful  examples 
than  those  which  are  furnished  by  the  saints  and  sinners  of  old  time  ? 
Is  there  any  poetry  of  religious  aspiration  which  has  ever  equaled,  or, 
so  far  as  we  can  see,  will  ever  equal,  the  cry  of  the  soul  of  man  to  God 
as  it  is  voiced  in  the  Psalms  ?  Is  there  any  record  of  the  struggles  of 
man's  soul  with  the  problem  of  the  evil  in  the  world  such  as  that  which 
is  given  us  in  the  Book  of  Job  ?  Is  there  any  book  more  truly  modern 
in  its  questioning  and  pessimism,  and  yet  in  its  reversion  to  the  neces- 
sity of  duty,  than  is  Ecclesiastes  ? 

And  when  one  comes  to  speak  of  the  New  Testament,  what  is  it  in 
the  apostles  themselves,  what  is  it  in  such  a  man  as  Peter,  or  in  any 
of  the  rest,  which  most  appeals  to  us  ?  Is  it  not  the  candor  with  which 
the  humanity  of  the  man  is  delineated  for  us  in  the  story  of  his  life 
and  contact  with  the  Master  whom  he  loved  and  yet  denied?  And 
shall  we  not  say  that  it  is  by  this  very  human  quality  that  the  Christ 
himself  moves  us  as  He  does  ?  That  He  is  a  being  infinitely  greater 
and  better  than  ourselves  is  sufficiently  obvious.  But  if  He  seemed 
to  belong  to  a  moral  world  altogether  different  from  our  own,  would 
He  move  us  as  He  does?  If  the  virtues  which  He  illustrates,  if  the 
qualities  of  life  and  soul  which  He  displays,  and  if  the  purposes  of 
life  which  He  reveals  were  all  alien  to  ourselves,  and  such  as  belonged 
only  to  a  being  of  another  sphere,  would  He  move  us  as  He  does? 
Should  we  not  say:  "It  was  natural  for  Him  to  be  that — He  was  no 
man  as  we  are;  and  it  can  never  be  natural  for  us  men  to  be  as  He  was  ? " 
It  is  the  fact  that,  despite  all.  He  is  one  of  us,  which  makes  that  we  in 
inmost  soul  and  purest  purposes  would  be  one  with  Him.  It  is  this 
which  breaks  us  all  down  in  contrition,  and  then  lifts  us  up  to  mighty 
endeavor  and  to  everlasting  hope  that  we  too  shall  one  day  through 
Him  be  pure  and  true. 

Sometimes  it  seems  to  me  that  preaching  is  one  of  the  most  futile 
things  a  man  could  ever  attempt.  For  we  speak  to  hundreds  of  men 
as  if  they  were  but  one,  and  speak  of  duty  as  if  it  were  but  one;  whereas, 


THE  HOMILETIC  USE  OF  THE  BIBLE  191 

in  simple  truth,  there  are  as  many  duties  as  there  are  persons.  Yet 
at  bottom  preaching  is  the  simplest  thing  in  the  world.  It  is  so  simple 
that  you  wonder  that  we  all  can  fail  to  do  it  so  many  times  a  year.  A 
man  has  nothing  to  do  but  in  fidelity  and  fearlessness  to  say  something 
touching  the  human  life  which  is  absolutely  true  and  real  to  himself, 
and  so  to  say  it  as  to  move  the  souls  of  other  men,  his  hearers,  to  seek 
and  find  the  truth  of  God,  the  message  of  His  word  and  truth  for  their 
own  lives  as  well. 

I  can  but  think  that  out  of  the  busy,  pressed,  and  driven  lives  of 
modern  men  we  are  coming  again  to  the  time  when  men  will  turn  as 
of  instinct  to  the  church  as  the  place  of  rest  and  uplift,  of  light  and 
power  and  peace,  and  to  preaching  for  inspiration,  and  to  the  preacher 
as  the  helper  of  men  in  their  endeavor  to  clothe  all  of  life  with  ideality, 
and  to  raise  it  to  the  level  of  the  divineness  of  its  purpose  and  its  plan. 
In  this  sense  I  deem  that  there  is  no  greater  privilege  than  that  of  real 
preaching  and  of  maintaining  the  opportunity  for  worship  among  the 
men  of  our  time. 

And  as  the  preparation  of  a  man's  own  heart  for  such  living  and 
real  appeal  to  the  hearts  of  his  fellows,  as  the  aid  of  the  interpretation 
of  men  themselves  and  of  God  to  men,  as  the  deposit  of  the  most  exalted 
spiritual  experience  of  humanity,  and  the  record  of  the  highest  reve- 
lation of  God  for  humanity,  there  is  no  book  for  one  moment  to  be 
mentioned,  nor  are  all  books  besides  for  one  moment  to  be  mentioned, 
with  this  of  the  Scripture  of  the  Old  and  of  the  New  Testaments.  Nor 
is  the  availability  of  the  Book  for  the  preacher  less,  but  rather,  as  it 
seems  to  me,  is  it  immeasurably  greater,  if  the  preacher  is  inspired  by 
the  most  thoroughgoing  historical,  critical,  and  literary  spirit  concern- 
ing these  two  books.  Not  the  less,  but  if  possible  the  more,  truly  is  the 
spiritual  life  in  the  struggle  of  mankind  seen  through  this  record.  And 
the  answer  of  God  to  man  is  read  in  its  pages,  just  as  of  old,  because 
we  see  the  Book  as  the  Book  of  the  most  exalted  humanity,  and  there- 
fore the  truest  record  to  us  of  the  communication  of  Divinity. 


DISCUSSION 

REV.  WILLIAM  H.  BOOCOCK, 

PASTOR   FIRST   REFORMED   CHURCH,    BAYONNE,   NEW  JERSEY 

Under  the  illumination  of  modern  Biblical  Science,  the  Bible  as  a 
true  servant  of  the  spiritual  life  is  just  entering  upon  an  era  of  unex- 
ampled influence  and  power.  The  ultimate  end  in  the  minister's  study 
of  the  Bible  must  ever  be  the  enrichment  of  his  own  spiritual  life  and 
that  of  his  people.  Whatever  else  he  may  get,  if  he  fails  to  get  an 
increase  in  spiritual  life,  he  misses  the  finest  fruit  of  Bible  study. 

That  he  may  get  the  largest  profit  from  his  study,  he  will  endeavor 
to  bear  in  mind  three  things:  (i)  That  the  Bible  is  a  progressive  revela- 
tion, and  therefore  he  must  carefully  distinguish  truth  in  its  various 
stages  of  development.  Thus  he  will  not  mistake  the  bud  for  the 
blossom,  or  the  blossom  for  the  fruit;  he  will  be  kept  from  thinking 
that  the  Decalogue  is  the  complete  expression  of  God's  moral  will;  and 
he  will  not  fall  into  the  grave  error  of  educating  his  people  backward. 
(2)  That  the  truth  of  the  Bible  has  always  both  a  soul  and  a  body,  a 
soul  of  eternal  truth  and  a  time-body  which  relates  that  truth  to  its  his- 
torical environment.  He  must  therefore  distinguish  between  the 
literary  and  doctrinal  form,  and  the  spiritual  revelation,  of  the  Bible. 
Thus  he  will  relegate  questions  of  date,  authorship,  and  kindred  ques- 
tions to  special  scholars;  and,  accepting  their  established  conclusions 
as  authoritative,  he  will  be  free  to  concern  himself  chiefly  with  the 
spiritual  message.  (3)  That,  while  all  truth  is  abiding,  all  truth  is  not 
equally  vital.  He  must  therefore  distinguish  between  what  is  more 
and  what  is  less  significant  to  him  and  his  age.  Thus  he  will  learn  the 
important  secret  of  emphasis. 

All  this  the  use  of  the  historical  method  of  Bible  study  will  enable 
him  to  do. 

Coming  to  his  study  with  these  distinctions  in  mind,  what  may  the 
devout  student  of  the  Bible  expect  to  get  from  it  for  the  enrichment  of 
his  own  spiritual  life  and  that  of  others  ?  Many  answers  might  be  given, 
I  shall  mention  only  three  of  the  most  obvious: 

I.  He  should  expect  to  get  a  true  vision  of  God  and  man.  Of  God, 
not  alone  as  a  universal  presence,  but  as  a  universal  Father,  infinitely 
holy  and  loving,  and  having  in  His  redemptive  purpose  of  grace  the 
whole  human  family;  of  man  in  his  sinfulness,  trammeled  with  the 
brute-inheritance,  yet  essentially  a  child  of  God  and  potentially  an  heir 

192 


DISCUSSION  193 

to  all  the  fulness  of  God.  From  this  twofold  vision  will  be  born  the 
recognition  of  the  universal  Fatherhood  of  God  and  the  universal 
brotherhood  of  man. 

2.  As  a  result  of  this  vision  there  ought  to  come  to  him  a  noticeable 
inspiration  toward  a  truer  love  for  God  and  man.  To  see  God  as  He 
is  revealed  in  the  Bible  is  to  love  Him.  "We  needs  must  love  the  High- 
est when  we  see  it,"  says  Tennyson.  Moreover,  to  see  man  as  he  is  in 
his  low  estate,  and  at  the  same  time  as  he  is  in  the  hght  of  God's  beautiful 
ideal  for  him,  is  to  love  him  and  to  desire  for  him  the  self-fulfilment 
which  is  possible  to  him. 

3.  The  light  of  the  vision  and  the  warmth  of  increased  love  must 
inspire  a  new  personal  devotion  to  God  and  man;  a  devotion  to  God 
which  will  express  itself,  not  alone  in  sentiment  and  pietistic  efferves- 
cence, but  in  plain,  homely,  matter-of-fact  obedience  to  His  holy  will  as 
that  is  revealed  in  the  laws  of  life ;  a  devotion  to  man  which  finds  expres- 
sion in  helpful  service  to  the  total  nature  of  man.  And  this  personal 
devotion  to  God  and  man  will  be  carried  to  the  point  of  sacrifice,  yes, 
even  to  that  of  utmost  sacrifice. 

This  beautiful  ideal  of  the  spiritual  life,  with  its  intellectual  element 
of  the  Fatherhood  of  God  and  the  brotherhood  of  man,  with  its  emotional 
element  of  love,  with  the  volitional  element  of  obedience  and  service, 
found  everywhere  in  the  Bible  implicitly,  is  presented  in  concrete  form 
in  the  person  of  Jesus,  in  whom  alone  we  find  the  perfect  expression  of 
the  filial  and  fraternal  spirit  eventuating  in  obedience  to  God  and  ser- 
vice to  man,  and  both  reaching  their  culmination  in  the  death  of  the 
cross.  Standing  on  the  borderland  of  Orient  and  Occident,  Jesus 
gathers  up  in  His  own  Person  the  finest  fruit  of  the  age-long  religious 
development  which  preceded  Him,  and,  giving  to  it  the  dynamic  of 
life,  presents  it  to  the  Occident  in  living  and  concrete  form. 

Standing  also  as  the  Mediator  between  the  unseen,  spiritual  world 
and  the  visible,  temporal  world,  with  His  nature  open  to  both,  Christ 
is  the  unique  gift  of  God  to  man.  His  "only-begotten  and  well-beloved 
Son,"  and  we  see  in  Him  the  divine  spirit  and  truth  which  issues  from 
the  eternal  Father,  and  constitutes  Him,  in  Dr.  Gordon's  phrase, 
the  "religious  ultimate  for  mankind." 


REV.  LUCIUS  O.  BAIRD, 

PASTOR   FIRST   CONGREGATIONAL   CHXIRCH,   OTTAWA,   ILLINOIS 

"A  text  makes  a  good  point  of  departure,"  remarked  a  minister 
when  discussing  the  dependence  of  the  sermon  upon  the  Bible.  But 
the  spiritual  inspiration  of  the  preacher  for  his  work  is  not  in  getting 


194  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

away  from  his  Bible,  but  in  getting  into  his  Bible.  Certain  large  and 
inspiring  results  have  come  from  minute  Biblical  study.  There  are 
conscientious  specialists  in  the  field  who  can  be  trusted.  The  minister 
may  not,  probably  cannot,  be  an  original  investigator,  but  he  must  not 
disregard  the  candid  results  of  the  scholarly  friends  of  the  Book.  If 
this  means  readjustment,  he  must  readjust.  He  must  find  firm  standing- 
ground  for  his  own  soul,  and  from  that  rock  make  the  world  feel  his 
message.  Such  a  live  Bible  can  come  only  through  travail  of  mind  and 
heart. 

When  a  minister  has  found  this  firm  standing-place  for  his  own  feet, 
it  is  more  important  for  his  people  to  feel  the  Bible  than  to  hear  him 
defend  it.  If  they  recognize  in  their  leader  an  absolutely  candid  mind 
and  consecrated  spirit,  they  will  not  be  disturbed  about  winds  of  criti- 
cism. It  is  enough  for  them  to  know  that  the  Bible  still  is  his  inspiration 
"for  teaching,  for  reproof,  for  correction,  for  instruction  which  is  in 
righteousness."  I  am  not  pleading  for  investigation  in  the  pastor's 
study,  followed  by  sentimentalism  in  the  pulpit,  but  for  that  reach 
beyond  the  realm  of  critical  analysis  which  has  always  been  the  note  of 
the  prophetic  voice  in  the  spoken  message. 

The  minister  may  find  rich  homiletic  use  of  the  Bible  in  making  his 
people  know  the  men  of  the  Book  rather  than  their  arguments.  The 
Paul  of  modern  historical  study — statesman,  patriot,  mystic,  evangehst, 
slave  of  Jesus  Christ— seems  to  be  an  almost  unknown  character. 
Laymen  care  nothing  for  the  discussion  of  those  passages  which  have 
caused  some  exegetical  commentators  to  appear  as  intellectual  contor- 
tionists in  their  attempts  to  pass  through  their  theological  hoops  without 
surrendering  their  textual  honesty.  Let  us  admit  that  in  the  heat  of  con- 
troversy Paul  used  arguments  which  today  have  no  weight  and  Httle 
meaning.  It  is  not  the  defense  of  some  stray  argument  which  now  is 
most  vital,  but  the  fact,  for  instance,  that  Paul's  statesmanship  appre- 
ciated that  Jewish  Christianity  must  be  lifted  into  a  world-religion. 
He  became  the  emancipator  from  the  letter;  the  pioneer  of  the  spirit. 
To  see  Paul  the  man  is  more  important  for  the  people  than  to  have 
them  hear  a  defense  of  his  theology.  Make  people  feel  Paul's  person- 
ahty  and  trust  them  to  draw  correct  theological  conclusions.  To  rise 
with  Paul  from  a  merely  ethical  confidence  in  an  earthly  Jesus  to  a 
mystical  union  with  the  everliving  Christ  is  more  necessary  than  to 
round  out  his  system.  Show  them,  for  example,  that  last  picture  which 
fills  Paul's  soul  when  he  was  finishing  in  prison  his  valedictory  to  the 
Philippians.  With  satisfaction  he  looked  back  over  a  life  of  hardship; 
the  joy  of  the  future  illumines  his  soul.     "Henceforth  there  is  laid  up 


DISCUSSION  I9S 

for  me  the  crown  of  righteousness  which  the  Lord  the  righteous  judge 
shall  give  to  me."  But  all  this  glory  fades,  like  a  dissolving  view  upon 
a  screen,  as  through  this  vision  of  his  release  and  his  own  crown  there 
comes  out  upon  his  prison  walls,  faintly  at  first,  then  more  clearly, 
feature  after  feature,  the  face  of  Demas,  "who  forsook  me" — and  for 
such  a  cause — "having  loved  this  present  world."  The  theological, 
the  mystical,  the  controversial,  is  swallowed  up  in  the  personal.  The 
old  man's  head  is  buried  in  his  hands,  the  old  fever  is  upon  him ;  he  is  on 
his  knees  in  the  prison  cell  praying  for  Demas,  a  deserter.  Glorious  old 
soldier,  who  could  face  mobs  without  flinching,  who  could  argue  to 
silence  the  Areopagites,  who  could  glory  in  tribulation,  but  who  breaks 
down  at  the  thought  of  a  wandering  boy  in  a  great  city.  What  were 
crowns  when  a  human  soul  goes  back  on  a  friend  ?  What  were  rewards 
when  a  Demas  deserts  his  Lord  ? 

Men  will  recognize  the  unique  revelation  of  the  Word  without  argu- 
ment when  they  feel  its  remarkable  vitality.  To  those  bearing  the  bur- 
dens of  the  day  it  is  a  small  matter  whether  John  or  his  disciples  wrote 
the  fourth  gospel  or  whether  there  was  one  or  a  dozen  Isaiahs.  Some- 
one in  touch  with  the  Eternal  must  have  spoken  that  which  has  swayed 
the  world.  The  power  of  the  Book  is  in  its  present  vitality.  The 
vitality  of  the  Bible  for  the  minister  is  in  its  present  revivifying  power. 


THE  LAYMAN  AND  THE  SPIRITUAL  AUTHORITY  OF 
THE   BIBLE 

PROFESSOR  JOHN  FRANKLIN  GENUNG,  Ph.D., 

AMHERST    COLLEGE,    AMHERST,    MASSACHUSETTS 

The  question  that  I  am  appointed  to  discuss,  "How  can  the  layman 
be  made  to  appreciate  the  spiritual  authority  of  the  Bible  today  ? " 
meets  us  in  a  time  which  has  so  long  been  called  a  period  of  transition 
that  well-nigh  all  classes,  lay  no  less  than  clerical,  are  becoming  used 
to  the  unquiet  sensation  which  such  a  dubious  period  connotes,  and 
are  ceasing  to  be  astonished  at  any  new  thing  which  the  higher  criti- 
cism or  strange  restatements  of  doctrine  are  moved  to  say.  They  are 
vaguely  conscious  that  the  old  views  of  Scripture  truth  are  becoming 
obsolete;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  they  are  looking  dimly,  but  as  yet 
with  no  intelligent  prevision,  for  some  goal  of  spiritual  authority  in 
which  their  souls  may  come  to  rest.  There  is  pain  in  such  suspense  as 
this;  but  perhaps  also  there  may  be  promise,  for  it  betokens  at  least 
that  the  soul  of  the  age  is  in  movement  and  not  in  stagnation.  The 
Book  which  has  so  long  been  the  supreme  source  of  spiritual  authority 
may  merely  be  letting  go  its  hold  on  one  point  in  order  to  take  stronger 
hold  at  another.  Our  inquiry,  then,  in  its  large  scope, 'resolves  itself 
into  the  question;  How,  in  view  of  the  great  movements  that  are  con- 
trolling the  mind  of  the  age,  are  we  getting  the  transition  made? 

The  movements  of  the  age  are  themselves  spiritual.  Let  us  bear 
this  fact  well  in  mind.  What  the  transition  means  is  that  the  human 
spirit  is  undergoing  a  profound  readjustment  to  its  universe,  its  sphere 
of  allegiance  and  truth.  And  because  these  movements  are  spiritual, 
we  dare  to  say  they  are  divinely  initiated  and  directed.  It  is  only  we 
ourselves  that  are  blind  to  their  outcome;  and  while  thus  it  is  our  limi- 
tation to  see  through  a  glass  darkly,  we  may  be  sure,  from  the  light  that 
has  led  us  hitherto,  that  for  the  time  to  come  also  Hght  will  be  given 
as  it  is  needed,  step  by  step.  Nor  is  it  wise  to  bank  too  much  on  this 
or  any  time  of  transition,  as  it  must  needs  be  a  time  of  letting  go,  a 
period  of  negative  abeyance.  It  is  not  God's  way  to  afHict  His  world 
with  eras  that  do  not  count.  There  are  elements  of  value  developing 
themselves  underneath,  all  the  while;  and  there  is  spiritual  authority 
enough  available  to  support  them. 

Of  the  two  great  age-movements  which  I  desire  here  to  mention,  the 
more  striking  and  salient  is  the  scientific.     The  last  century  has  devel- 

196 


THE  SPIRITUAL  AUTHORITY  OF  THE  BIBLE  197 

oped  enormously,  in  the  minds  of  men,  a  sense  for  actual  fact,  for  law, 
for  the  causes  and  progress  of  things.  In  every  department  of  thought 
and  study  that  has  come  to  be  the  craving.  The  human  mind,  schol- 
arly and  lay  alike,  is  being  molded  to  the  recognition  of  the  concrete 
actual,  is  adjusting  life  to  it,  is  sloughing  off  superstitions  and  inopera- 
tive fancies,  or  at  least  becoming  aware  how  much  and  how  little  these 
amount  to.  It  is  inevitable  that  this  temper,  this  spirit,  must  sooner 
or  later  be  applied  also  to  Bible  study.  We  cannot  continue  to  look 
at  Scripture  records  in  a  mediaeval  spirit,  or  in  a  kind  of  artificial  faith 
which  abjures  thought  in  the  interests  of  a  crudely  held  theory  of  reve- 
lation and  the  supernatural.  These  advances  of  honest  inquiry  which 
we  identify  with  the  higher  criticism  are  simply  the  expression  of  this 
scientific  movement.  The  honest  endeavor  to  see  the  Scripture  fact  as 
it  is,  to  know  wha"  actually  took  place  in  those  old  times,  is  not  a 
depravity,  it  is  not  a  crankiness,  it  is  not  a  self-interested  advocacy; 
it  is  loyalty  to  the  integrity  of  our  nature;  it  seeks  the  truth  of  things; 
it  faces  reality,  and  will  not  rest  in  the  mere  shows.  And  by  the  fact 
that  men  are  ceasing  to  be  disturbed  by  the  strange  new  aspects  of 
their  transition  we  may  know  that  the  scientific  temper  is  taking  deeper 
possession  of  the  popular  mind,  and  it  is  becoming  less  afraid  to  know 
the  truth. 

But  this  scientific  movement,  obtrusive  as  it  is,  does  not  sum  up  our 
age,  nor  perhaps  even  represent  its  most  significant  element  of  growth. 
The  past  century  has  also  been  the  century  of  diffusion,  wherein  popular 
information  and  instruction,  flowing  in  vast  tides  of  published  matter, 
and  made  irrigable  by  education,  have  been  fostering  and  developing 
among  all  classes,  learned  and  lay,  a  more  inner  view  of  life  and  truth. 
In  other  words,  the  second  great  movement  is  the  literary;  that  attitude 
in  man  whereby  he  responds  to  the  inner  things  of  life.  The  sense 
for  fact  which  has  made  man  scientific  has  not  been  suffered  so  exclu- 
sively to  hold  the  field  as  to  make  his  life  a  mere  affair  of  materialism 
and  commercialism.  Another  sense  and  temper  have  been  working  up 
the  dead  facts  of  hfe  into  a  spiritual  product;  so  that,  instead  of  being 
fed  only  through  laboratories  and  museums  and  historic  annals,  he  is 
also  being  nourished  through  his  imaginative  and  creative  sense.  It  is 
not  the  record  of  fact  that  is  really  molding  the  mind  of  the  age;  it  is 
the  inspiration  of  ideas,  the  vital  power  of  literature.  Look  around  you, 
and  see  what  men  and  women,  young  and  old,  high  and  lowly,  are 
reading.  Have  you  considered  that  the  prepotent  medium  of  commu- 
nication and  inspiration  between  souls,  during  this  past  age,  has  been 
fiction  ?    Men  have  come  to  recognize  it  as  such ;  they  know  that  the 


igS  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

book  they  are  reading  was  created  by  a  literary  artist ;  drawn  not  from 
documents  and  parliaments,  but  from  the  heart  and  inner  vision  of  man. 
It  is  a  momentous  thing  to  reckon  with,  that  men  have  thus  come  to 
move  congenially  with  the  craftsmanship  of  literature,  and  see  things 
through  literary  eyes,  and  know  that  the  man  who  beguiles  them  with 
his  clever  stories  lives  in  the  next  street.  For  thus  literature,  in  its 
power  of  fiction,  has  become  the  special  and  opportune  art  of  our  time, 
the  art  by  which  every  common  man  is  kept  aware  that  Hfe  is  charged 
with  spiritual  values.  The  determining  interests  in  life,  men  are  com- 
ing spontaneously  to  recognize,  are  not  what  happened  yesterday  in 
Wall  Street,  or  what  Professor  Curie  discovered  in  his  laboratory,  but 
what  puts  us  in  company  of  human  souls  and  the  uplifts  of  principle 
and  character. 

Now,  in  view  of  these  two  great  age-movements — when  it  comes 
to  the  Book  of  books,  the  literature  from  which  the  central  insights 
of  life  are  drawn,  what  shall  it  be  to  us  ?  If  the  age  had  ministered  to 
us  nothing  but  a  sense  for  fact,  it  would  be  merely  the  record  of  an 
ancient  history,  dead  and  done  long  ago,  with  all  the  uncertainties  of 
transmission  and  translation  hanging  about  it,  and  thus  at  the  mercy 
of  our  awakened  scientific  sense.  Shall  we  co-ordinate  it  thus  with  our 
sense  for  fact,  and  make  it  stand  or  fall  thereby  ? 

It  was  with  the  fact-sense,  the  literal  sense,  alone  active,  that  men 
approached  the  Bible  before  the  transition  began ;  but  this  fact-sense  was 
wholly  undisciplined  either  by  science  or  literature.  Everything  was 
viewed  as  taking  place  just  as  it  was  written;  the  wonders  coming  in 
from  above  to  nourish  what  men  called  faith,  meaning  credulity;  the 
discrepancies  merely  a  seeming  which  it  required  only  a  little  more 
scholarly  ingenuity,  or  a  little  more  fervent  surge  of  credence,  to  clear 
up.  But  all  this  sense  for  literal  fact  itself,  still  untrained,  was,  as  it 
were,  the  wide-eyed  wonder  of  children  left  stranded  in  adult  minds 
and  unrelated  with  mature  thought.  The  breath  of  the  scientific  move- 
ment had  not  yet  wrought  on  it,  like  an  east  wind,  to  blow  it  cold  and 
clear.  For  other  objects,  indeed,  men's  vision  was  sane  and  straight; 
but  here  the  sense  of  sacredness  held  the  tide  of  conviction  back.  So 
the  Bible,  unawares  to  men,  was  becoming  an  exception,  an  anomaly,  a 
magical  relic.  We  were  putting  it  off  into  a  compartment  by  itself 
where,  laying  aside  our  straight  sense  of  things,  we  had  to  manufacture 
a  special  sense  to  appropriate  it.  This  of  course  could  not  long  endure. 
Sooner  or  later  the  barriers  must  break,  and  the  solvent  powers  of  the 
age  get  at  it.  The  disciplined  scientific  sense,  having  its  innings  here 
as  everywhere  else,  must  effect  a  radical  transition,  as  it  were,  from  a 


THE  SPIRITUAL  AUTHORITY  OF  THE  BIBLE  199 

Ptolemaic  to  a  Copernican  consciousness;  wherein,  instead  of  viewing 
the  Scripture  records  as  made  to  circulate  around  a  specially  prepared 
spiritual  consciousness,  we  might  secure  just  as  great  and  just  as  divine 
a  result  by  simply  turning,  with  the  spirit  of  our  time,  on  our  own  axis. 

Well,  criticism  is  having  its  free  course,  and  no  man  can  stop  it. 
It  is  breaking  boldly  into  the  letter,  the  mold  of  literal  fact,  reaching 
startling  results,  carefully  yet  firmly  sifting  facts  and  legends,  errors 
and  discrepancies  and  colorings,  trying  to  recognize  everything  Scrip- 
tural for  just  what  it  is.  It  seems  like  an  expensive  process.  In 
some  ways  it  causes  a  shrinkage  at  which  we  wince.  But  one  thing 
it  does  by  way  of  compensation:  beginning  at  the  bottom,  it  ministers 
to  our  demand  for  the  factual  truth  of  things.  This  is  a  concession 
to  the  truth  that  when  God  endowed  us  with  a  scientific  sense,  He  gave 
us  something  to  reverence  and  conciliate.  It  is  on  its  rudimentary 
plane  a  spiritual  gift,  having  spiritual  rights  and  authority.  But 
another  thing,  too,  this  critical  wave  is  doing.  It  is  disengaging  us  from 
the  tyranny  of  fact,  from  the  worship  of  the  letter.  The  very  shock  of 
knowing  that  the  letter  is  fallible  may  be  necessary  to  startle  us  out  of 
our  too  crude  and  complacent  behefs.  We  must  learn,  at  whatever 
cost,  to  transfer  our  spiritual  allegiance  from  what  is  past  and  dead 
to  what  is  present,  vital,  eternal;  from  the  letter  which  killeth  to  the 
spirit  which  giveth  Hfe.  This,  if  we  may  venture  to  interpret  Provi- 
dence, is  the  great  purpose  which  is  being  brought  to  pass  in  our  age. 
When  we  come  to  gather  up  the  eventual  fruits  of  our  transition,  we 
shall  never  again  worship  the  words  and  letters  or  even  the  dead  fin- 
ished facts,  of  a  book;  we  shall  worship  instead  the  divine  Spirit  who 
has,  in  that  wise  way  which  adapts  itself  to  every  new  age,  used  the 
Book  as  His  message. 

But  on  our  way  to  this  event  we  do  not  have  to  contemplate  even  a 
temporary  disintegration.  We  do  not  have  to  wait  for  the  transition. 
A  mighty  ally  is  working  on  the  spiritual  side  to  prepare  us  for  it  unawares 
as  we  go  along.  The  same  age-spirit  which  has  compelled  us  to  subject 
the  Bible  to  the  hazards  of  science  is  providing,  for  all  classes,  a  refuge 
wherein  the  human  spirit  can  still  be  at  home  and  at  peace,  though 
dislodged  from  the  torpor  of  literalism  and  unvital  fact.  The  great 
literary  movement  is  helping  us  to  see  the  Bible  in  a  new  light.  Coming 
to  its  words  with  eyes  anointed  by  the  poetic  and  creative  imagination, 
we  find  it  famiUar  scenery.  We  know  by  our  every-day  reading,  as 
we  could  not  have  known  a  century  ago,  what  literary  creations,  hterary 
values  are.  And  so  by  the  side  of  the  Bible  history  we  can  with  unshaken 
mind  see  fiction,  poetry,  literary  invention,  figure,  parable,  all  doing 


200  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

their  noblest  work  on  their  proper  themes.  Under  even  the  mistaken  fact, 
the  crude  phrase,  the  untutored  historic  judgment,  we  can  by  the  edu- 
cated fact,  the  literary  sense,  and  without  shock,  appropriate  the  spiritual 
values,  the  spiritual  authority.  The  Bible,  as  its  records  come  to  be 
compared  with  the  records  that  we  read  every  day,  will  demonstrate 
how  much  higher  and  deeper  it  is,  and  how  much  truer  to  human 
and  divine  nature,  even  on  that  standard.  This,  I  believe,  is  going 
to  represent  the  large  final  outcome  of  our  tremendous  era  of  transition. 
The  Bible  will  eventually  be  a  book  immensely  more  real  and  vital, 
because  it  will  speak  to  men  in  an  idiom  not  archaic  and  esoteric,  but 
familiar  and  universal. 

Meanwhile,  the  transition  is  long  in  getting  itself  made,  and  its 
course  is  obscure  and  covered  with  bewildering  words.  How  shall  the 
layman  live  in  the  presence  of  it;  how  shall  his  ear  catch  the  tones  of 
spiritual  authority  as  they  sound,  a  small  still  voice,  under  the  din  of 
criticism  and  readjustment  ? 

Not  by  doing  that  violence  to  his  nature  which  must  inevitably 
attend  an  obstinate  unreasoning  fight  for  the  old  literalistic  views.  The 
world  moves;  we  must  move  with  it,  we  cannot  safely  apply  a  fro  ward 
pressure  to  ourselves  and  arrest  the  development  which  the  spirit  of 
the  time  is  exacting  of  us.  Nor  is  it  any  safer  to  do  as  so  many  are  doing : 
put  ourselves  outside  the  movement  as  mere  spectators,  saying  to  he 
critics:  "Let  us  know  when  you  get  the  adjustment  made  and  we  will 
come  in  to  accept  it."  We  cannot  be  spectators  and  participators  at 
will — one  thing  now,  the  other  then.  Nor  are  transitions  made  by 
one  man  and  fitted  on  another  like  a  coat.  If  the  Bible  has  spiritual 
authority  at  all,  the  current  of  it  must  be  continuous;  and  we,  instead 
of  regarding  it  as  going  under  eclipse,  must  remain  with  it,  feeling  and 
obeying  it  all  the  while. 

No,  there  is  nothing  for  it,  in  spite  of  all  its  risks  and  unsettledness, 
but  keeping  in  touch  with  the  age,  sharing  in  its  expanding  movements 
in  this  Scripture  realm  as  well  as  in  the  realm  of  science  and  affairs. 
The  best  safety  is  in  seeing  Scripture  truth  according  to  the  organs  of 
sight  that  our  time  and  our  education  have  given  us.  It  co-ordinates 
with  all  that  is  in  us,  not  the  devout  and  mystical  alone,  but  with  what 
is  simplest,  homeliest,  most  natural.  That  does  not  mean  that  we 
must  accept  or  even  know,  the  latest  thing  in  documentary  or  historic 
criticism.  It  does  not  mean  that  the  layman  must  become  a  specialist. 
But  it  does  mean  that  he  has  the  same  warrant  that  he  has  ever  had 
for  courage  and  faith,  both  in  the  divinely  led  age  which  is  molding 
his  spiritual  attitudes,  and  in  the  Scripture  which  has  survived  the  ages. 


THE  SPIRITUAL  AUTHORITY  OF  THE  BIBLE  201 

The  spiritual  power  of  the  Bible  is  undergoing  a  great  emancipation. 
We  are  entering  a  roomier  universe,  graduating  from  the  parish  to  the 
world,  from  a  Ufe  expressed  in  church  dialect  to  a  life  expressing  the 
whole  of  man.  That  broader  Ufe  must  have  its  dialect,  its  sublime 
idiom;  and  when  in  the  faith  which  clings  loyally  to  the  highest  spiritual 
values  we  come  to  gather  the  results  of  the  transition,  we  shall  find  that 
the  Bible  has  royally  kept  pace  with  it. 


CHURCH  PROVISION  FOR  ADEQUATE  INSTRUCTION  IN 
BIBLICAL  KNOWLEDGE 

PROFESSOR  SAMUEL  T.  BUTTON, 

TEACHERS   COLLEGE,   COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY,   NEW  YORK  CITY 

It  is  of  little  use  to  ask  the  question:  "Is  the  church  responsible 
for  the  teaching  of  the  Word?"  It  long  ago  accepted  that  responsi- 
bility. The  real  inspiration  of  missionaries,  martyrs,  and  leaders  of 
the  church  has  come  from  the  injunction  of  the  Master  to  preach  and 
teach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature.  It  may  be  assumed,  therefore,  that 
the  most  important  business  to  which  the  church  has  ever  addressed 
itself  has  been  the  teaching  of  the  Bible  to  those  who  are  in  need  of  the 
knowledge,  the  comfort,  and  the  hope  which  it  contains.  Whether  the 
church  has  done  or  is  doing  its  great  work  of  teaching  the  Bible  in  the 
best  way  is  a  question;  and  when  we  recall  the  simplicity  and  direct- 
ness with  which  Christ  addressed  the  people,  we  wonder  whether  the 
church,  with  its  elaborate  machinery  and  splendid  ritual,  has  not 
departed  so  far  from  the  models  which  He  set  that  it  will  be  difficult 
to  return  to  them. 

The  obligation  which  the  church  has  undertaken  becomes  greater 
in  these  latter  days  when  we  remember  that  the  home  does  much  less 
in  the  way  of  Bible-teaching  than  formerly.  I  will  not  say  that  homes 
are  not  better  than  they  ever  were,  and  that  Christian  virtues  are  not 
more  generally  practiced  in  the  home  life.  Fathers  and  mothers  have 
a  happier,  sweeter  companionship  with  their  children  than  was  the 
case  in  former  times.  But  in  respect  of  religious  teaching  a  change 
has  taken  place.  As  a  rule,  parents  do  not  give  their  children  formal 
instruction  either  in  the  Bible  or  anything  else.  Their  education  is 
delegated  to  other  persons.  When  homes  were  isolated  and  schools 
were  few,  it  was  easier  for  parents  to  instruct  their  children,  probably 
because  it  was  necessary.  When  Sunday-school  teaching  became  a 
part  of  the  church  life,  home  teaching  began  to  decline.  In  fact,  the 
church,  by  adopting  the  Sunday  school,  assumed  to  a  larger  extent 
than  it  had  done  before  the  responsibility  for  Bible  teaching. 

Let  us,  therefore,  inquire  how  the  church  is  meeting  its  responsi- 
biUty.  Is  teaching  made  of  primary  or  of  secondary  importance  ?  We 
can  best  find  an  answer  to  this  question  by  two  inquiries:  (i)  What 
relative  importance  is  given  to  teaching  in  our  theological  seminaries? 


ADEQUATE  INSTRUCTION  IN  THE  BIBLE  203 

and  (2)  What  prominence  is  given  to  Bible  instruction  in  our  Sunday 
services  ?  Regarding  the  first  question,  I  feel  safe  in  saying  that  clergy- 
men over  thirty  years  old  have  made  little  study  of  education  or  of  the 
processes  of  teaching  during  their  seminary  course.  To  them  and  to 
those  still  older  the  ministry  means  preaching  rather  than  teaching. 
It  means  formal  services  rather  than  the  more  simple  and  personal 
relationship  of  teacher  and  pupil.  There  are  fevi^  clergymen,  probably, 
who  do  not  wish  to  have  the  Bible  school  in  its  best  form;  but  nearly 
all  cling  tenaciously  to  old  forms,  so  that  Bible  teaching  takes  a  second 
place. 

We  can  judge  somewhat  of  the  relative  importance  attached  to  the 
Bible  school  by  the  consideration  that  is  given  to  it  as  regards  its  place 
of  meeting  and  the  hour  to  which  it  is  assigned.  Until  recent  years 
church  architecture  did  not  make  any  adequate  provision  for  the  Sunday 
school.  It  is  an  evidence  of  progress  that  most  of  the  newly  constructed 
churches  are  provided  with  attractive  rooms  for  this  purpose.  When 
we  come  to  consider  how  the  Bible  school  stands  as  related  to  other 
Sunday  services,  there  is  not  so  much  cause  for  encouragement.  In 
these  days  of  strenuous  toil  and  stress  it  seems  almost  unreasonable 
to  ask  hard-working  people  to  attend  two  formal  church  services  as 
well  as  the  Sunday  school.  When  our  theological  seminaries  are  fully 
charged  with  the  spirit  of  teaching  as  a  fundamental  means  of  training 
men  and  women  for  the  Christian  life,  we  may  expect  to  see  some 
radical  changes  in  the  arrangement  of  church  work  which  would  prob- 
ably seem  revolutionary  at  present.  The  only  means  of  giving  to  Bible 
study  its  proper  place  on  Sunday  is  by  some  sort  of  accommodation  and 
concession  to  provide  a  program  which  is  reasonable  in  its  exactions 
upon  people.  To  hold  rigorously  to  the  ancient  program  of  two  formal 
services,  and  then  to  add  the  Sunday  school,  Christian  Endeavor  meet- 
ing, guild  meetings,  and  what  not,  so  that  conscientious  and  wilhng 
people  are  absolutely  worn  out  and  commence  their  work  on  Monday 
with  a  sense  of  depression  and  weariness,  is  clearly  contrary  to  the 
words  of  the  Master  when  he  said:  "  The  Sabbath  was  made  for  man." 
The  problem  which  I  am  suggesting  is  indeed  a  serious  one,  and,  speak- 
ing as  a  layman,  I  must  say  that  I  believe  pastors  have  often  failed  to 
grasp  its  real  significance. 

But  someone  will  say:  "What  change  can  be  made  that  vnll  con- 
serve the  interests  of  both  the  preaching  service  and  Bible  school,  and 
insure  a  larger  attendance  at  both?"  The  best  answer  I  can  make  is 
in  saying  that,  like  all  modern  problems  growing  out  of  changed  social 
conditions,  it  must  be  approached  with  open-mindedness  and  readiness 


204  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

to  make  radical  concessions  for  the  sake  of  the  great  interests  involved 
Supposing  the  pastor  were  to  appear  in  the  Sunday  school  just  at  its 
close  some  Sunday  morning  and  should  say:  "I  have  something  very 
important  to  present  to  you  and  will  invite  you  to  come  into  the  church." 
It  is  time  for  the  morning  service,  and  the  teachers  can  escort  their 
classes  to  the  door,  and  then  let  them  find  seats  with  their  friends. 
The  pastor,  throwing  off  the  shackles  of  custom,  has  an  introductory 
service  of  singing  and  prayer,  lasting  fifteen  minutes,  instead  of  one 
lasting  forty-five  or  fifty  minutes.  He  then  in  a  fifteen-minute  address 
applies  the  Sunday-school  lesson  to  actual  life,  using  illustrations  and 
concrete  instances,  making  it  so  interesting  that  everybody  is  glad  to 
have  heard  it.  Then  perhaps  with  a  sermon  to  the  congregation,  ten 
or  fifteen  minutes  in  length,  the  service  is  brought  to  a  close.  If  the 
special  music  by  the  choir  is  given  at  the  end  of  the  service  instead  of 
at  its  beginning,  the  result  is  still  better.  The  whole  service  has  not 
been  more  than  an  hour  long.  With  some  such  arrangement  as  this, 
parents  and  children  have  the  pleasure  of  walking  home  together, 
which  is  highly  desirable.  If  this  particular  thing  should  happen  in 
some  of  the  churches  with  which  I  am  acquainted,  it  would  be  a  nine 
days'  wonder.  If  it  were  continued,  I  believe  it  would  give  universal 
satisfaction,  and  the  results  would  be  beneficial.  I  confess  I  do  not 
expect  to  see  this  change.  The  power  of  habit  and  the  slavery  of  cus- 
tom are  too  powerful,  even  in  those  churches  which  are  most  free  in 
their  action,  to  say  nothing  of  those  which  have  a  more  stereotyped 
order  of  service. 

Let  me  suppose  another  case:  The  pastor  on  a  given  Sunday  says 
from  the  pulpit:  "I  wish  to  try  an  experiment.  Instead  of  coming 
to  the  Bible  school  these  winter  mornings  at  half-past  nine,  I  wish  you 
all  would  bring  your  children  here  to  the  church  service  at  eleven 
o'clock.  The  Sunday-school  lesson  will  be  taken  up  afterward."  This 
meets  with  much  favor.  The  parents  and  children  come  together. 
The  organist  has  a  new  motive  for  playing  music  that  is  inspiring  and 
cheerful.  The  choir  recognizes  the  presence  of  the  children  by  singing 
one  or  more  carols.  The  pastor  shortens  his  prayer,  his  reading,  and 
the  singing.  He  preaches  a  carefully  prepared  sermon  not  a  second 
over  fifteen  minutes  long,  but  so  vital,  so  sincere,  and  so  marked  by 
human  sympathy  that  every  word  seems  precious  to  his  hearers.  The 
entire  service  lasts,  we  will  say,  fifty  minutes.  The  pastor  then 
announces  that  the  classes  will  at  once  meet  in  their  respective  places, 
and  invites  all  the  congregation  who  would  like  to  do  so  to  gather  in 
front  of  the  church  for  a  Bible  lesson.     During  the  ten  minutes  while 


ADEQUATE  INSTRUCTION  IN  THE  BIBLE  205 

the  classes  are  taking  their  places,  the  organ  plays  and  the  people  have 
the  opportunity  of  exchanging  friendly  greetings.  Nearly  all  remain, 
and  the  pastor  has  the  greatest  opportunity  of  the  week,  that  of  pre- 
senting some  portion  of  Scripture  to  a  large  number  of  people  in  a  more 
personal,  informal  way  than  he  can  do  at  any  other  time. 

The  only  question  is:  Can  he  teach?  Can  he  use  Scripture  so  as 
to  interpret  life  ?  A  mere  exposition  in  theological  platitudes  seems 
quite  out  of  place  today,  when  so  many  people  do  a  part  at  least  of 
their  own  thinking,  and  measure  the  value  of  either  teaching  or  preach- 
ing by  the  extent  to  which  it  touches  their  own  lives  and  helps  them 
to  see  vital  truth  more  clearly.  Moreover,  I  wish  to  call  attention  to 
a  number  of  desirable  ends  that  have  been  accomplished  through  such 
a  service  as  I  have  described.  In  the  first  place,  families  have  been 
permitted  to  spend  Sunday  morning  together,  to  go  to  church  together, 
and  to  return  home  together.  They  have  enjoyed  the  service  and  the 
Bible  school  together.  Together  they  have  thought  along  certain  Hnes 
and  have  become  better  acquainted  with  a  certain  portion  of  God's 
Word.  Perchance  they  may  be  inclined  to  speak  in  the  family  circle 
of  what  they  have  heard,  and  thus  sacred  things  become  a  more  com- 
mon subject  of  conversation  between  parents  and  children.  What  has 
been  o'mitted  in  the  way  of  opening  exercises  in  both  services  can  well 
be  spared.  In  many  cases  such  lengthened  exercises  not  only  weary 
those  who  are  already  weary,  but  in  a  measure  unfit  young  and  old  to 
attend  closely  to  what  is  afterward  said.  It  should  be  remembered 
that  in  these  days  children  of  all  ages  are  attending  school  during  the 
week,  and  are  pursuing  a  regimen  which  is  quite  exacting. 

I  might  suggest  other  programs  which,  if  adopted,  would  permit  a 
church  to  claim  honestly  that  it  intended  to  give  the  Bible  school  a 
living  chance.  But,  as  I  said  before,  our  theological  schools  must  get 
a  better  perspective  upon  these  problems,  and  clergymen  must  have 
the  same  flexibility  in  adapting  means  to  end  that  is  required  today  of 
physicians,  lawyers,  and  men  of  business.  As  long  as  our  churches  of 
moderate  size  undertake  to  have  two  services  of  the  ordinary  length, 
and  bring  every  possible  argument  to  bear  in  urging  their  people  to 
attend  them,  it  will  be  very  hard  for  the  Bible  school  to  maintain  itself, 
and  it  will  be  impossible  for  parents  and  children  to  spend  Sunday 
together,  as  I  believe  they  should  have  the  privilege  of  doing. 

Desiring  to  make  the  most  of  that  rare  privilege,  which  the  layman 
seldom  has,  of  lecturing  the  clergy,  let  me  ask  by  what  right,  human 
or  divine,  the  church  makes  inroads  upon  the  home  and  disintegrates 
it  by  making  the  young  people  go  to  Sunday  school  at  nine,  the  older 


2o6  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

people  to  church  at  eleven,  the  younger  ones  again  at  four  or  five,  and 
the  older  people  again  at  eight  ?  An  institution  so  old  and  so  sacred 
as  the  family  deserves  to  be  treated  with  great  respect  by  the  church. 
I  am  inclined  to  think  that  many  quiet  people  today  refrain  from  church- 
going  largely  because  they  think  they  discern  a  certain  inconsiderate- 
ness  on  the  part  of  the  church  toward  those  home  ties  which  to  them 
seem  so  precious.  The  man  whose  business  keeps  him  away  from 
home  and  family  six  days  and  possibly  six  nights  in  the  week  cannot 
cherish  the  most  loyal  feelings  toward  the  church  when  it  asks  him  to 
separate  himself  from  his  loved  ones  on  Sunday.  So  I  say  again  that 
the  church  cannot  fulfil  its  responsibility  toward  Bible  teaching  until 
it  is  skilful  enough  to  provide  for  such  teaching  while  at  the  same  time 
conserving  all  other  just  claims. 

Again,  our  appreciation  of  anything  in  this  world  is  best  shown  by 
what  we  are  willing  to  pay  for  it  in  money,  self-denial,  or  in  cheerful 
service.  Given  a  church  that  raises  $25,000  per  annum,  is  it  too  much 
to  suggest  that  $5,000  should  be  appropriated  to  Bible  teaching?  This 
would  make  it  possible  to  remunerate  the  superintendent.  He  should 
be  a  person  of  educational  knowledge  and  ability,  and  his  other  engage- 
ments should  be  such  as  to  permit  him  to  devote  a  portion  of  his  time 
to  the  duties  of  his  office.  Furthermore,  such  an  appropriation  would 
provide  proper  illustrative  material,  pictures,  books  of  reference,  a 
stereopticon,  lantern  slides,  and  lesson-books.  It  would  make  it  pos- 
sible, if  need  be,  to  compensate  a  few  teachers  of  marked  ability,  who 
would  act  as  a  sort  of  bodyguard  to  the  superintendent  in  conducting 
training  classes  and  in  making  out  the  curriculum. 

The  genuineness  of  a  pastor's  desire  to  give  Bible  study  its  rightful 
place  is  shown  in  the  concessions  he  is  willing  to  make.  In  view  of 
the  pressure  of  modern  life,  the  sanctity  of  the  home,  and  the  just 
claims  which  men  and  women  think  they  have  upon  some  part  of  the 
Sabbath  day  for  rest  and  recuperation,  it  is  seen  in  a  readiness  to  take 
things  as  they  are,  to  recognize  the  good  intentions  of  people,  and  to 
try  experiments  which  relieve  men  and  women  from  other  obligations 
in  the  church  in  order  that  they  may  become  teachers.  Furthermore, 
the  pastor  himself  must  lead  in  this  work.  He  must  have  an  ideal  of 
what  the  Bible  school  should  be,  and  inspire  his  people  to  work  with 
him.  In  many  instances  he  must  become  a  teacher  of  teachers  and 
go  over  the  lessons  with  them  with  respect  to  the  selection  of  material 
and  methods  of  teaching.  Our  theological  seminaries  must  become  in 
a  large  sense  teachers'  colleges,  where  as  much  attention  is  paid  to  the 
study  of  humanity  as  of  divinity,  where  as  much  study  is  given  to  the 


ADEQUATE  INSTRUCTION  IN  THE  BIBLE  207 

laws  of  the  mind  as  to  the  doctrines  of  religion.  Moreover,  the  whole 
machinery  of  the  church  must  be  readjusted  to  this  important  end. 

It  might  appear  from  what  has  been  said  that  too  little  value  is 
attached  to  preaching.  I  should  be  sorry  to  leave  this  impression.  The 
appeal  from  the  pulpit  is  the  clearest  note  that  reaches  the  human  heart. 
May  it  ever  be  spoken  with  sincerity  and  with  power ! 

Let  us  draw  a  few  practical  conclusions  from  the  suggestions  already 
made: 

1.  While  the  church  has  an  almost  exclusive  responsibility  for 
religious  teaching,  it  should  not  minimize  the  value  of  any  of  those 
agencies  which  affect  character  and  make  for  righteous  living.  Among 
these  may  be  numbered  the  home  and  the  school. 

2.  Religious  teaching  must  be  vital.  The  Bible  must  be  interpreted 
in  terms  of  human  life  as  it  is  today.  It  must  be  addressed  to  persons 
and  not  be  a  scholarly  dissertation  about  things. 

3.  The  Bible  school  must  be  organized  in  the  light  of  present  con- 
ditions and  with  due  consideration  for  the  people,  both  young  and  old, 
who  are  expected  to  participate  in  its  advantages.  Pastors  must  learn 
the  art  of  subtraction  as  well  as  of  addition.  Many  people  do  their  own 
thinking  and  say  their  own  prayers.  As  Christ  showed  so  clearly,  the 
efficacy  of  both  prayer  and  preaching  is  a  matter  of  quality  rather  than 
quantity. 

4.  As  in  all  education,  personality  is  the  most  important  factor.  It 
is  unwise  to  propose  for  the  Sunday  school  the  kind  of  complex  machinery 
which  is  required  in  the  day  school.  It  is  a  question  whether  day-school 
teachers  ought  to  teach  on  Sunday.  The  church  must  inevitably  rely 
upon  its  most  intelligent  and  devoted  members  who,  if  they  are  not 
strictly  pedagogic,  are  at  least  genuine  and  true  and  represent  the  best 
Christian  living.  The  problem  of  Bible  instruction  cannot  be  solved 
without  generous  concession,  fine  adaptation,  and  sanctified  common- 
sense. 


DISCUSSION 

REV.  WALTER  M.  PATTON,  Ph.D., 

INSTRUCTOR  IN   YALE  UNIVERSITY,   NEW   HAVEN,   CONNECTICUT 

The  spiritual  authority  of  the  Bible  is  recognized  by  the  laity  in  our 
churches,  though  there  is  no  just  appreciation  of  its  grounds.  Men  are 
ready  to  protest  against  views  which  threaten  to  impair  the  respect  in 
which  the  Bible  is  held  or  to  curtail  its  influence.  At  the  same  time,  they 
have  no  better  account  to  give  of  their  own  attitude  toward  it  than  the 
statement  that  they  obey  its  precept  because  they  believe  it  to  be  inspired. 
They  do  not  perceive  that  inspii-ation  in  itself  cannot  be  a  ground  of 
authority,  and  that  nothing  can  furnish  this  latter  but  the  possession  of 
a  body  of  truth  adapted  to  human  spiritual  needs. 

However,  while  this  last  consideration  is  profoundly  true,  we  may 
carry  it  so  far  in  our  application  of  it  as  to  make  the  authority  of  the 
Bible  depend  altogether  upon  our  perception  of  its  truth.  There  is,  we 
do  well  to  remember,  a  sense  in  which  the  authority  of  Scripture  is 
external  to  us  and  independent  of  us.  Truth  and  Right  are  obligations 
to  those  who  perceive  them  to  be  such,  but  they  have  also  an  authority 
of  their  own  apart  from  individual  recognition.  It  is  this  quality  of 
Truth  and  Right  which  is  implied  in  all  human  laws.  There  can  really 
be  no  such  thing  as  a  man  constituting  a  moral  authority  over  himself. 
The  Bible  acknowledged  or  unacknowledged  by  men  has  authority 
proper  to  itself,  because  it  is  the  will  of  a  personal  Power  to  which  men 
hold  themselves  responsible. 

There  has  been  in  the  churches  considerable  jealousy  felt  for  the 
safety  of  the  Bible  in  the  hands  of  men  who  have  wished  to  study  it 
according  to  the  principles  which  govern  all  historical  and  literary  studies. 
The  feeling  has  prevailed  that  to  encourage  study  by  such  a  method  would 
mean  to  lessen  the  universal  respect  for  the  Bible  as  a  unique  sacred 
Book.  It  is  probably  true  that  a  purely  secular  treatment  of  the  Bible 
has,  while  creating  a  wider  appreciation  of  its  literary  worth,  lessened 
the  sense  of  its  authoritative  character  in  the  minds  of  many.  It  is 
almost  a  certainty  that  this  popular  distrust  of  BibHcal  study  according 
to  a  secular  method  has  been  due  to  a  fear  that  the  beneficial  influence 
of  the  Bible  has  been  endangered.  In  reality,  good  people  have  cared 
less  about  the  conclusions  of  criticism  than  they  have  about  the  influence 
of  these  conclusions  upon  the  faith  and  life  of  the  people,  as  these  are 

208 


DISCUSSION  209 

conceived  to  be  dependent  on  the  Bible.  Nor  is  this  anxiety  misplaced 
or  improper.  Biblical  scholars  themselves  are,  as  Christian  men  at 
least,  not  as  much  concerned  about  the  contents  of  Scripture  as  about 
the  authority  and  influence  of  Scripture.  This  must  be  the  case,  for 
they,  like  the  non-professional  layman,  are  not  blind  to  the  supreme 
importance  of  the  Bible's  influence  on  the  life  of  men,  over  and  above 
the  merely  speculative  interests  of  Bible  knowledge. 

It  seems  to  me  that  the  historical  and  hterary  study  of  the  Bible  in 
religious  education  ought  to  be  prepared  for  by  studies  vi^hich.  would 
make  clear  three  things:  (i)  the  historical  effects  of  Christianity  and  of 
the  Bible;  (2)  the  Christian  ideal  of  personal  character  and  conduct  and 
of  society;  (3)  the  Christian  conception  of  God,  man,  and  the  universe. 
These  things  are  of  such  worth  as  facts  in  the  world  today  that,  whatever 
else  comes  or  goes,  they  should  be  appreciated  and  conserved.  To  lose 
any  one  of  these  would  be  an  immeasurable  loss.  Moreover,  the  true 
understanding  in  religious  education  of  these  factors  must  necessarily 
increase  very  greatly  our  estimate  of  the  value  and  authority  of  the  Bible, 
and  guard  against  any  possible  danger  there  may  be  incidental  to  the 
study  of  the  Book  simply  as  an  ancient  literature.  Enthusiasm 
for  the  study  of  the  Bible  will  be  augmented,  not  diminished,  if  we 
can  but  wisely  create  an  interest  in  the  facts  of  Christian  life  and  thought 
in  our  time,  as  they  are  presented  to  us  in  the  sciences  of  Christian 
Apologetics,  Ethics,  and  Theology.  We  must  take  care  only  to  make 
clear  at  every  step  the  connection  between  concrete  Christianity  and  the 
Bible. 


V.    SUNDAY  SCHOOLS 


A  STUDY  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  CONDITIONS  IN 
NEW  JERSEY 

REV.  E.  MORRIS  FERGUSSON, 

TRENTON,   NEW    JERSEY 

If  teaching  should  properly  begin  with  a  study  of  those  that  are  to  be 
taught,  and  if  the  Sunday-school  people  of  America  need  teaching, 
then  we  who  see  that  need  and  long  to  meet  it  ought,  in  very  consistency 
with  our  own  message,  first  of  all  to  address  ourselves  to  the  work  of 
studying  the  Sunday  schools  of  our  field. 

It  is  natural,  indeed,  to  assume  in  advance  that  we  know  the  Sunday 
schools  well  enough  to  be  able  to  write  books  for  their  instruction  and 
to  draw  up  lesson-courses  for  their  use.  But  do  not  some  of  the  very 
people  whose  educational  crudities  we  deplore  take  the  same  ground 
against  us  and  our  new  data  ?  Do  they  not  claim  to  know  individual 
children,  as  we  know  individual  schools?  Does  their  knowledge  of 
children  suffice  to  save  them  from  the  error  of  cramming  children's 
mouths  and  memories  with  good  words  before  the  words  have  any 
proper  relation  to  the  growth  of  the  children's  minds?  And  wherein 
are  the  words  of  our  pedagogy  better  than  the  words  of  their  catechism  ? 

If  we  would  not  be  found  among  the  word-crammers,  then,  let  us 
admit  that  we  cannot  teach  the  Sunday  schools  by  formulating  peda- 
gogical commandments  and  administering  educational  castigations  to 
the  dull  boys  who  will  persist  in  not  learning  their  lessons  in  our  way. 
If  indeed  we  are  content  to  be  mere  witness-bearers  against  the  evils  of 
an  age  gone  wrong,  let  us  cry  our  prophetic  message,  shake  off  the  dust 
of  our  feet,  and  retire,  conscience-free,  to  our  class-rooms  and  our  sanc- 
tums. But  if  we  would  truly  teach  these  people,  we  must  first  truly 
know  them,  not  as  they  ought  to  be,  but  as  they  are.  If  we  would  give 
them  lessons  in  pedagogy,  we  must  first  find  the  point  of  contact  between* 
their  ignorance  and  our  knowledge.  If  they  have  made  themselves 
tools  which  we  consider  ancient  and  unworthy,  but  which  they  love  and 
insist  on  using,  and  in  the  use  of  which  they  believe  themselves  to  be 
measurably  successful,  it  were  surely  wiser  and  more  teacher-like  to 
sit  down  beside  them  and  show  them  how  they  might  use  the  old  tool 
with  a  new  purpose  and  a  new  skill,  and  so  lead  them  of  themselves  to 


SUNDAY-SCHOOL  CONDITIONS  IN  NEW  JERSEY         211 

seek  for  something  better,  rather  than  to  ridicule  their  efforts  and  demand 
that  they  be  supplied  with  modern  tools  forthwith.  If  they  have 
exhibited  the  "gang  spirit"  by  organizing  themselves  into  conventions 
and  choosing  leaders  representative  of  their  own  ideals  and  reflecting 
their  own  life,  it  might  be  well  for  us  to  join  these  gangs  and  cultivate 
the  acquaintance  of  some  of  these  leaders.  All  that  the  modern  educator 
pleads  in  behalf  of  child-study  may  be  pleaded  with  equal  force  in  behalf 
of  school-study.  And  with  even  greater  force  may  we  ask  for  modesty 
and  tentativeness  in  the  utterance  of  programs  of  reform;  for  in  this 
field  the  facts  have  been  less  carefully  studied  and  are  less  fully  and 
widely  known. 

Having  had  occasion  for  twenty  years  to  know  the  Sunday  schools  of 
New  Jersey  by  residence  and  local  contact,  and  for  the  last  twelve  years 
to  study  them  closely  as  their  statistician,  field  secretary,  educational 
leader,  and  personal  friend,  I  submit  this  brief  and  fragmentary  estimate 
of  their  condition,  as  a  contribution  to  the  meeting  of  our  great  and 
pressing  need  for  light  on  the  facts  of  Sunday-school  work.  In  order  to 
bring  out  those  aspects  that  are  educationally  significant,  I  have  used 
both  statistics  and  estimates  based  on  personal  knowledge  of  the  field. 
Statements  which  are  only  estimates  are  indicated  as  such. 

The  statistical  census  of  the  Sunday  schools  of  New  Jersey  for  1903 
was  made,  like  its  forty  or  more  predecessors,  by  a  force  of  about  320  town- 
ship and  city-district  secretaries,  working  under  the  captaincy  of  twenty- 
one  county  secretaries  and  the  general  direction  of  a  paid  state  secretary. 
Over  a  third  of  the  schools  are  canvassed  in  person  each  year.  Seven- 
eighths  of  them  respond  with  a  report  answering  all  or  nearly  all  the 
questions  on  the  state  blank ;  and  these  reports,  when  tabulated  in  detail, 
are  first  compiled  and  completed  by  the  county  secretary  for  presenta- 
tion to  the  county  convention,  and  then  forwarded  to  the  state  office, 
where  they  are  copied  in  full  and  returned  to  the  counties  for  local  publi- 
cation. We  have  thus  at  headquarters  a  fairly  full  outline  of  the  year's 
work  of  nearly  every  Sunday  school  in  New  Jersey  for  the  last  twelve 
years.  By  comparison  with  last  year's  records,  and  by  recourse  to  denom- 
inational figures,  the  number  of  missing  schools  is  reduced  to  less  than  2 
per  cent,  of  the  whole;  and  for  these  we  are  able  to  make  a  fairly  close 
estimation.  Only  the  Protestant  evangelical  Sunday  schools  are  included ; 
but  the  number  of  non-evangelical  schools  in  New  Jersey  is  not  large, 
and  their  figures  would  change  the  totals  very  little. 

There  are  in  New  Jersey  2,336  Sunday  schools,  enrolling  17.8  per 
cent,  of  the  state's  present  population.  The  total  attending  member- 
ship is  348,366,  of  which  39,694  are  officers  and  teachers.    Adding 


212  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

17,944  home-department  members,  we  reach  a  total  enrolment  of  366,310; 
to  which  some  would  also  add  the  9,826  babies  on  the  cradle  roll.  The 
average  attendance,  200,174,  when  compared  with  the  attending  mem- 
bership, shows  a  percentage  of  57.5,  which  percentage  has  steadily 
fallen  since  1890,  when  it  stood  at  62.4.  The  attending  membership, 
which  increased  with  normal  rapidity  up  to  1898,  has  since  then  decreased 
absolutely  a  little  and  relatively  to  the  population  a  good  deal.  The 
number  of  Sunday  schools,  which  increased  at  the  rate  of  33  a  year 
from  1890  to  1900,  has  been  practically  stationary  since  then.  Material 
prosperity,  the  development  of  bicycles,  car  lines,  macadam  roads,  and 
other  outdoor  competitors  for  Sunday  patronage,  and  the  movement  of 
population  from  the  country  to  the  city,  account  for  most  of  this  falling 
off.  I  am  convinced,  however,  that  a  certain  part  of  it  is  due  to  the 
failure  of  the  secondary  and  adult  divisions  of  our  Sunday  schools  to 
keep  up  with  the  educational  progress  of  the  age.  The  elementary 
division  has  progressed ;  but  that  is  not  where  the  losses  chiefly  occur. 

The  statistics  further  show  many  differences  between  city  and  country 
conditions.  In  Hudson  county,  which  is  practically  a  part  of  Greater 
New  York,  the  average  Sunday  school  has  293  attending  members,  and 
its  average  attendance  is  62.2  per  cent.  Of  its  149  Sunday  schools,  21 
have  a  normal  class,  26  have  a  cradle  roll,  all  but  about  35  have  a 
separate  room  for  the  primary  department,  and  about  25  close  for  part 
or  all  of  the  summer.  But  in  Sussex,  a  mountainous  but  fairly  pros- 
perous county,  the  average  Sunday  school  has  only  74  members;  its 
average  attendance  is  only  53.4  per  cent.;  and  of  the  68  Sunday  schools 
only  3  have  a  normal  class,  8  a  cradle  roll,  and  16  a  separate  primary 
room.  None  of  these  schools  closes  in  the  summer,  but  19  of  them  close 
in  the  winter,  some  for  as  long  as  five  months.  In  Hudson  county  the 
Sunday  schools  are  steadily  increasing  in  size;  in  Sussex  and  similar 
rural  counties  they  are  increasing  very  slowly,  if  at  all. 

In  studying  the  field  at  large,  we  may  begin  with  its  religious  condi- 
tion. The  average  Sunday  school  in  the  state  of  New  Jersey  has  17 
officers  and  teachers  and  132  scholars — a  total  of  149  attending  mem- 
bers. Of  its  teachers,  about  4.5  per  cent,  are  not  professing  Christians; 
at  least,  this  proportion  stood  fairly  constant  during  the  years  when 
questions  relating  to  this  matter  were  asked.  Of  the  scholars,  about  18 
per  cent,  are  reported  as  communicant  church  members;  but  inasmuch 
as  about  300  schools  containing  100  scholars  and  more  fail  every  year 
to  answer  this  question,  the  percentage  is  undoubtedly  much  larger, 
probably  about  25.  The  fact  that  in  so  many  large  schools,  some  of 
which  are  zealous  in  efforts  for  evangehzation  and  Christian  nurture, 


SUNDAY-SCHOOL  CONDITIONS  IN  NEW  JERSEY!         213 

no  record  is  kept  of  the  church  membership  of  the  pupils,  so  that  the 
school  secretary  is  at  a  loss  for  information  on  this  point,  is  itself  an  item 
to  be  noted.  The  scholars  are  confessing  Christ  and  "joining  the 
church"  at  the  rate  of  3.4  per  cent,  a  year,  which  rate  has  remained 
fairly  constant  for  some  years,  and  rests  on  figures  that  there  is  no 
occasion  for  doubting.  It  seems  to  indicate  that  only  about  half  of 
our  pupils  confess  Christ  before  they  leave  the  Sunday  school. 

Concerning  the  superintendent,  all  that  we  know  statistically  is  that 
his  average  tenure  of  office  is  four  years  and  three  months,  and  that  in 
only  seven  schools  out  of  ten  does  he  have  to  give  an  account  of  his 
stewardship  at  an  annual  business  meeting.  As  to  the  pastor,  our 
address  lists  give  us  only  about  1,400  names,  though  there  are  2,336 
schools.  Perhaps  200  names  are  missing.  This  means  that  besides  our 
221  union  Sunday  schools,  which  get  a  turn-about  and  casual  pastoring 
from  the  near-by  ministers,  there  are  some  800  others  that  are  partly 
or  wholly  pastorless  in  fact,  the  preacher  being  on  circuit  and  unable  to 
visit  his  Sunday  schools  except  alternately  or  on  special  occasions.  This 
drawback  is  seriously  felt  in  the  rural  counties,  and  should  be  borne  in 
mind  by  those  that  are  counting  on  the  pastor's  help  in  the  introduction 
of  grading,  teacher-training,  and  other  reforms.  In  the  1,300  or  so  cf 
Sunday  schools  that  do  have  a  pastor  to  themselves,  his  usual  place  is 
as  teacher  of  the  adult  Bible  class. 

As  to  race,  about  5^  per  cent,  of  the  Sunday  schools  are  negro  schools. 
These  are  counted  in  with  the  white  schools,  and  their  delegates  fre- 
quently attend  our  county  conventions  and  are  welcomed  there.  As 
these  conventions  never  last  more  than  a  day,  questions  of  hospitality 
are  not  raised.  The  foreign-speaking  schools  also  comprise  5^  per 
cent,  of  the  whole  number,  their  average  size,  however,  being  much 
larger  than  that  of  the  negro  schools. 

In  1899,  when  we  last  reckoned  up  the  denominations,  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  schools  led  with  27.3  per  cent.,  followed  by  the  Presbyterians 
with  17.3,  the  Baptists  with  14. i,  and  the  Episcopalians  with  8.8.  There 
were  over  thirty  denominations  identified. 

Turning  now  to  the  conditions  as  respects  lesson  work,  I  made  an 
inquiry  in  1895  ^^  to  what  lessons  the  schools  were  using.  The  results 
were:  number  of  schools,  2,240;  number  using  International  Lessons, 
1,667;  Blakeslee  Lessons,  29;  other  lessons,  mostly  Episcopal  Diocesan 
Lessons,  273;  no  indication,  271.  The  inquiry  has  not  since  been 
repeated,  owing  to  the  evident  difficulty  of  eliciting  information  from 
the  very  schools  whose  work  we  are  most  anxious  to  investigate.  I  do 
not  think  that,  so  far  as  the  upper  grades  are  concerned,  the  conditions 


214  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

have  changed  very  much  in  the  last  nine  years,  except  that  all  the  lesson- 
courses  have  been  improved,  and  the  General  Council  of  Lutherans 
has  issued  a  full  graded  course  of  its  own. 

In  the  elementary  grades,  however,  progress  has  been  made  to  which 
the  attention  of  this  Department  is  earnestly  invited.  The  primary 
teacher,  being  a  graded  teacher,  has  always  been  the  progressive  member 
of  the  local  Sunday-school  force.  Ten  years  ago,  recognizing  this,  the 
state  Sunday  School  Association  started  the  New  Jersey  School  of  Pri- 
mary Methods  at  Asbury  Park;  and  this  school,  meeting  for  a  week  each 
July,  has  enrolled  about  twelve  hundred  individual  teachers  for  one  or 
more  weeks  of  contact  v/ith  the  wider  world  of  educational  progress. 
Through  influences  generated  largely  at  this  school,  at  least  20  per  cent, 
of  the  Sunday  schools  in  this  state,  and  many  in  other  states,  are  exem- 
plifying in  their  elementary  departments  a  reasonable  approach  to  sound 
pedagogic  method  in  Bible-teaching. 

Using  statistics  representing  two-thirds  of  the  schools,  gathered  by 
our  elementary  department  organization,  and  completing  these  by 
a  rough  estimation,  I  think  our  present  progress  toward  gradation  might 
be  fairly  summarized  thus: 

PER   CENT. 

c)   Schools  altogether  ungraded -        2.5 

b)  With  a  primary  department,  but  no  separate  primary  room  -         -         -       47.1 
(Many  of  these  however  have  a  screened  corner  or  other  partial  separa- 
tion.) 

c)  With  main  room  and  primary  room  only      -         -         -         -         -         -39. 6 

(Adding  b  and  c,  we  have  86. 7  per  cent.,  with  a  graded  primary  depart- 
ment and  an  ungraded  main  school.     In  at  least  a  fourth,  perhaps  a 

third,  of  these  primary  departments,  more  or  less  of  graded  lesson 
material  is  taught.) 

d)  With  separate  primary  and  junior  (9-12)  departments,  and  in  most 

cases  a  beginners'  department  also,  and  the  main  room        -  -         -         8.3 

e)  With  the  three  elementary  grades,  and  graded  work  also  undertaken  in 

the  upper  school  -        -        -        -        -        -        -        -        -        -         2.5 


This  table  is  based  on  a  conception  of  gradation  that  recognizes  the 
social  solidarity  of  the  grade,  the  permanence  of  the  grade  teacher,  and 
the  architectural  environment,  as  factors  of  equal  importance  with  the 
presentation  of  graded  lesson  material.  It  might  be  noted  that  at  least 
7^  per  cent,  of  the  Sunday  schools  are  now  teaching  in  the  beginners' 
or  kindergarten  grade  a  separate  course  of  beginners'  lessons,  distinct 
from  the  International  Lessons,  and  that  this  percentage  is  rapidly 
rising. 

These  incomplete  results  of  a  casual  study  of  records  on  file  are  offered 


SUNDAY-SCHOOL  CONDITIONS  IN  NEW  JERSEY         215 

in  the  hope  that  others  with  more  leisure  and  better  training  for  such 
studies  may  be  moved  to  undertake  investigations  upon  a  much  wider 
and  more  thorough  scale.  I  feel  sure  that  in  such  a  service  the  cordial 
co-operation  of  any  of  the  state  or  provincial  secretaries  of  the  Inter- 
national Convention  will  be  freely  granted. 


A  SURVEY  OF  THE  PRESENT  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  WORLD 
REV.  WILLIAM  C.  BITTING,  D.D., 

PASTOR  MT.   MORRIS   BAPTIST   CHURCH,   NEW  YORK  CITV 

Statistics  of  the  Sunday-school  world  are  only  approximate:^  United 
States  (new  possessions)  and  Canada,  14,000,000;  England  and  Wales, 
7,000,000;  Scotland,  1,200,000;  Ireland,  400,000;  Germany,  850,000; 
Sweden  and  Norway,  500,000 ;  other  European  states,  500,000 ;  Australia, 
1,400,000;  West  Indies,  200,000;  South  America,  250,000;  Islands  of  the 
Sea,  500,000;  Asia,  800,000;  Africa,  500,000;  in  all — scholars,  29,000,- 
000;  teachers,  2,950,000.  These  figures  are  far  from  exhausting  the 
child  population  of  any  of  these  geographical  divisions;  besides,  they 
include  many  adults.  The  Sunday-school  world  is  yet  much  smaller 
than  the  week-day  school  world,  and  includes  only  a  fraction  of  the 
minor  population  of  so-called  Christian  lands,  to  say  nothing  of  other 
countries.  The  banner  school  is  said  to  be  at  Stockport,  England, 
with  235  male  teachers,  295  female  teachers,  and  4,824  scholars — a 
total  of  5,354.  A  close  second  is  the  Bethany  School  of  Philadelphia, 
with  a  total  membership  of  5,215. 

Statistics  may  roughly  indicate  the  size  of  a  movement,  but  they 
give  no  information  as  to  its  quality.  Within  these  millions  of  human 
beings  there  are  school  movements  showing  growths  and  crystalliza- 
tions, nebulous  matter  and  systems,  currents  and  stagnant  pools,  germi- 
nations, and  all  unripe  stages  of  development  on  the  way  to  fruition. 
This  paper  must  deal  in  outlines,  seeking,  if  possible,  to  silhouette 
actual  conditions  and  to  indicate  tendencies. 

Data  for  generalizations  about  conditions  abroad  have  not  been 
collected.  A  great  mass  of  information  could  in  time  be  gathered,  but 
months  would  be  needed  for  procuring,  digesting,  classifying,  and  induc- 
tion. It  is  hkely  that  each  national  or  ecclesiastical  situation  would 
exhibit  its  own  peculiar  features,  and  that  only  the  vaguest  generaliza- 
tions could  be  made  about  the  total  movement  in  all  lands. 

Authoritative  letters^  give  a  glimpse  of  non-conformist  schools  in 
Great  Britain.  Their  object,  while  mainly  evangelistic,  lacks  definite- 
ness.  They  are  characterized  by  absence  of  method.  The  quality  of 
the  teaching  is  unsatisfactory.     There  is  no  test  or  examination  of 

'  These  figures  are  taken  from  Reed,  The  Evolution  0}  the  Sunday  School. 
'  Rev.  Charles  Wilhams,  Accrington,  England;  F.  F.  Belsey,  Esq.,  J.  P.,  President  of  the  Sunday- 
School  Union  (British)  for  1903. 

216 


A  SURVEY  OF  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  WORLD  217 

instruction.  A  few  classes  for  teacher-training  are  attended  mainly  by 
those  who  least  need  them,  others  seeming  to  be  unconscious  of  their 
value.  The  results  of  experimental  psychology  and  modern  pedagogics 
rarely  affect  their  work.  In  Scotland  possibly  the  work  is  somewhat 
more  carefully  done.  In  Wales  nearly  all  the  population  finds  its  way 
to  the  Bible  school.  The  recent  education  crisis  in  England  has  made 
the  friends  of  the  Sunday  school  more  keenly  interested  in  its  efficiency. 
The  Anglican  Church  is  training  about  two  and  a  half  millions  of  chil- 
dren, as  against  about  three  and  a  half  millions  in  the  schools  of  all 
other  religious  bodies.  Many  of  the  schools  of  the  Anglican  Church 
are  fine  and  well  conducted.  As  some  of  their  teachers  are  from  the  most 
cultured  classes,  excellent  work  is  often  done.  However,  as  a  rule,  they 
are  all  agencies  for  the  upbuilding  of  the  Establishment,  and  the  spirit 
of  love  and  earnestness  is  more  apparent  in  the  schools  of  the  free 
churches.  A  larger  number  of  devoted  men  and  women  make  up  the 
rank  and  file  of  the  Free-Church  school  teachers  than  can  be  found  in 
the  EstabHshment  schools,  which  are  usually  managed  by  its  clergy. 
Indications  are  that  a  close  study  of  the  situation  in  Great  Britain 
would  reveal  parallels  to  results  of  study  here. 

The  good  work  done  in  many  Roman  Catholic  and  Hebrew^  schools 
in  this  country  must  not  be  forgotten.  The  Roman  Catholic  schools 
in  some  cases  are  conspicuously  successful  and  are  self-perpetuating, 
their  graduates  being  able  and  wilHng  to  teach  the  entire  curriculum  to 
undergraduates.  In  this  respect  they  set  a  fine  example  to  Protestant 
schools.  The  Jewish  work  is  rapidly  developing.  In  many  of  their 
schools  there  are  paid  teachers,  series  of  excellent  text-books  are  in  use, 
the  sessions  are  held  on  both  Saturday  and  Sunday,  extending  over  two 
or  three  hours,  and  the  course  of  instruction  includes  many  subjects  in 
addition  to  the  Old  Testament. 

I  will  now  confine  myself  to  the  organization,  ideals,  instruction, 
literature,  and  tendencies  of  the  Protestant  Sunday  schools  of  this 
country. 

I .  There  is  no  organization  that  articulates  the  Sunday-school  world. 
The  Internationa!  Sunday  School  Association,  while  world-wide  in  its 
scope,  and  the  most  comprehensive  of  all  interdenominational  organiza- 
tions, does  not  include  all  the  schools  of  any  land.  Some  religious 
bodies  are  not  afl&liated  with  it.  In  those  which  are,  many  schools  do 
not  use  its  uniform  lessons,  and  do  not  participate  in  its  local  or  gen- 
eral movements.  There  is  at  present  no  sign  of  any  federation  that 
shall  unite  the  Sunday-school  world,  unless  the  existence  of  this  Depart- 

3  Haslett,  The  Pedagogical  Bible  School,  pp.  73-78. 


2i8  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

ment  of  the  Religious  Education  Association  is  a  happy  omen  of  such 
a  bond.  There  are  movements  within  some  of  the  great  churches  for 
organization  and  development  within  their  own  confines,  and  evidently 
with  reference  to  denominational  efficiency.^  It  is  not  at  all  likely 
that  any  national  or  international  organization  embracing  all  schools 
could  be  formed  around  any  scheme  of  lessons.  Such  an  inclusive 
structure  would  have  to  be  built  upon  broad  lines  of  method,  or  pur- 
pose, and  confine  itself  to  matters  common  to  all  varieties  of  effort. 

2.  Three  ideals  seem  to  dominate  the  Sunday-school  world:  the 
social,  the  educational,  and  the  evangeUstic.  Schools  are  classified  as 
working  under  any  one  of  these  three,  not  by  the  entire  absence  of  the 
other  two,  but  by  their  emphasis  upon  one  of  these  ideals. 

(i)  The  social  ideal  regards  the  school  as  an  aggregation  of  persons, 
a  field  for  the  operation  of  movements  of  various  kinds  that  will  inter- 
est the  members.  Success  is  measured  by  numerical  standards.  Some 
of  the  largest  schools  in  the  world  belong  to  this  class,  though  as  a 
whole  it  includes  the  fewest  in  number.  There  is  more  or  less  edu- 
cational and  evangelistic  work,  but  these  schools  are  not  organized 
about  either  of  these  ideals.  The  school  itself,  vnth  its  own  esprit  de 
corps,  is  the  main  thing. 

(2)  The  educational  ideal  claims  an  increasing  number  of  schools. 
They  are  organized  with  reference  to  the  study  of  all  matters  bearing 
upon  the  religious  and  moral  welfare  of  the  scholar,  according  to  the 
most  approved  modern  methods.  Intellectual  equipment  is  here  a 
prime  consideration.  Into  such  schools  the  paid  teacher  has  already 
made  his  advent.  They  strive  to  profit  religiously  by  the  advance  of 
general  educational  movements,  are  found  chiefly  in  centers  of  intel- 
lectual activity,  and  are  officered  and  instructed  by  those  whose  per- 
sonal interest  in  the  educational  aspects  of  reHgion  is  very  keen. 

(3)  The  evangelistic  ideal  is  overwhelmingly  ascendant.  Its  aim  is 
to  secure  a  spiritual  experience  for  the  scholar  conforming  to  the  stand- 
ards of  the  church  with  which  the  school  is  connected,  to  lead  him  to  the 
pubUc  confession  of  that  experience  according  to  the  rites  of  the  church 
controlling  the  school,  and  to  train  him  in  the  life  to  which  he  has  thus 
been  introduced.  Within  this  ideal  there  is  a  varying  degree  of  empha- 
sis on  the  study  of  the  Bible.  In  some  schools  (a)  the  educational 
element  is  reduced  to  a  minimum  as  an  effective  factor  in  the  experi- 
ence sought.  The  teachers  are  rather  preachers,  or  dealers  in  second- 
hand homiletics.  Other  energies  than  the  scholar's  personal  search 
for  Scripture  truth  are  impressed  into  service.     In  other  schools  (6)  the 

•»  In  the  Protestant  Episcopal  church  of  the  United  States,  and  in  some  other  Christian  bodies. 


A  SURVEY  OF  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  WORLD  219 

strongest  emphasis  is  laid  upon  the  honest  study  of  the  Scriptures  as 
the  most  eflfective  method  of  bringing  the  instrument  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
into  direct  and  transforming  contact  with  the  life  of  the  scholar.  This 
,  study  is  depended  upon  as  the  most  efficient  discipline  in  helping  the 
pupil  to  realize  and  enthrone  the  religious  element  of  his  nature.  Between 
these  two  extremes  there  are  (c)  schools  that  greatly  vary  in  their  reli- 
ance upon  Bible  study  in  its  relation  to  what  is  commonly  called  con- 
version. 

There  are  indications  that  the  social,  educational,  and  evangelistic 
ideals  will  be  combined  with  careful  regard  to  their  proper  relation  and 
proportion  in  the  school  of  the  future.  Each  asserts  an  aspect  of  the 
school  that  is  real  and  essential.  But  the  best  work  can  be  done  only 
when  the  ideal  is  sharply  defined. 

3.  The  functions  of  superintendent  and  teacher  are  receiving  more 
attention  today  than  ever. 

(i)  It  is  now  easier  to  get  a  good  pastor  of  a  church  than  a  thor- 
oughly quahfied  superintendent  of  a  Sunday  school.  The  time  has  long 
since  passed  when  the  duties  of  this  ofiicial  are  ended  v/ith  presiding 
at  the  sessions  of  the  school.  There  is  a  pressing  call  for  thoroughly 
prepared  persons  to  make  this  vocation  a  life-work.  The  employment 
of  trained  and  salaried  superintendents  is  increasing.  The  supply  is 
far  short  of  the  demand.  Enlarging  ideals  of  the  school  make  this  place 
increasingly  difficult  to  fill  from  the  ranks  of  untrained  business  men. 
Are  we  to  look  to  women  for  skilled  service  in  this  sphere  ?  And  the 
seriousness  of  this  problem  is  greatly  increased  where  the  school  ideals 
are  constantly  widening,  but  financial  limitations  prevent  adequately 
qualified  leadership.  Here  is  a  sphere  of  usefulness  for  those  who  wish 
to  pursue  religious  work,  but  not  to  preach. 

(2)  The  securing  of  properly  equipped  teachers  is  a  still  harder 
problem.  The  almost  universal  verdict  is  that  the  teacher  is  the  key 
to  the  situation.  After  all  due  honor  has  been  paid  to  those  who  are 
trying  to  discharge  this  function,  the  cry  for  quahfied  teachers  is  still 
insistent.  Probably  no  indictment  of  the  methods  prevalent  for  a  third 
of  a  century  is  so  severe  as  the  simple  fact  that  so  long  an  experiment 
with  them  has  utterly  failed  to  yield  teachers  competent  for  even  the  most 
elementary  methods  thus  far  pursued,  not  to  think  of  advanced  work. 
What  should  be  thought  of  any  system  claiming  to  be  at  all  educational 
whose  personal  products  were  unequal  to  its  perpetuation  ?  Efforts  are 
now  making  to  remedy  this  weakness.  A  high  authority ^  says:  "Only 
one  church  in  thirty-three  has  a  teachers'  meeting  of  any  character," 

'  Mr.  Marion  Lawrance,  General  Secretary  International  Sunday  School  Association. 


220  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

and  "probably  not  more  than  one  church  in  a  hundred  is  making  any 
systematic  effort  to  supply  its  Sunday  school  with  trained  teachers." 
And  yet  all  our  talk  about  graded  schools,  graded  lessons,  use  of  the 
results  of  psychology  and  its  consequent  pedagogics,  is  empty  and  vain 
without  the  trained  teacher.  International  Association  statistics'^ 
report  1,450  teacher-training  classes  with  14,000  members,  and  the 
Presbyterian  church  ^  reports  that  during  1903  it  had  800  teacher- 
training  departments  with  12,000  members.  Most  of  these,  however, 
appear  to  be  only  recruiting  places  for  substitute  teachers  where  the 
lessons  are  taught  a  week  in  advance.  A  few  of  them  are  more  ambitious 
and  seek  to  reach  the  main  difficulty. 

The  Executive  Committee  of  the  International  Association  last 
August  established  a  Department  of  Education,^  and  appointed  a  Com- 
mittee on  Education  to  "erect  such  standards  and  to  provide  such  diplo- 
mas as  will  supplement  and  promote  all  teacher-training  systems  in  the 
fields  of  denominations  and  associations,  without  infringing  upon  the 
reserved  rights  of  those  bodies."  This  movement  is  designed  to  answer,  if 
possible,  "the  insistent  appeals  both  of  denominational  and  associational 
leaders  for  a  more  clearly  defined,  classified,  and  unified  system  of  teacher- 
training.  "^  Schools  for  training  teachers  now  exist  at  a  few  points,  but 
their  benefits  are  mainly  local,  and  are  sought  after  mostly  by  the  few 
ambitious  teachers  who  least  need  them.  It  is  hard  to  see  how  the 
inexorable  necessities  of  the  ordinary  life  will  allow  most  of  the  teachers 
to  take  advantage  of  such  opportunities,  even  if  they  were  disposed  to  do 
so.  For  this  reason  there  seems  to  be  an  increasing  opinion  in  some 
quarters  that  teachers  should  be  paid  and  professional.  Provisions  for 
the  training  of  teachers  by  correspondence  and  by  the  facilities  of  circu- 
lating libraries  do  not  seem  to  meet  the  case.  The  Booklovers'  Library, 
with  the  advice  of  experts,  prepared  a  catalogue  of  books  especially  for 
Sunday-school  teachers,  in  the  efi'ort  to  aid  them  in  this  respect.  The 
superintendent '°  writes: 

We  regret  to  say  that  our  experience,  so  far,  as  the  result  of  actual  contact 
with  the  teachers,  has  been  very  unsatisfactory.  The  average  teacher  does  not 
realize  the  importance  of  his  position,  and  very  little  attempt  is  made  on  their 
part  to  quahfy  themselves  by  study  of  the  latest  and  best  books  pubHshed,  espe- 
cially those  on  psychology  and  pedagogics.  Considerable  effort  will  have  to  be 
made,  and  a  great  deal  of  time  spent,  before  our  teachers  will  be  at  all  capable 

*  Official  Statistics  International  Sunday  School  Association,  1903. 

7  Official  Circular  of  Rev.  James  A.  Worden,  D.D.,  Superintendent  Sabbath  School  and  Mis- 
sionary Department. 

•  Minutes  of  the  Tenth  International  Sunday  School  Executive  Committee,  Monona,  Ind. 
»  Address  of  the  Committee  on  Education,  Louisville,  Ky.,  December  16,  17,  1903,  p.  6. 
'"  Mr.  E.  J.  Boyd,  in  letter  to  writer,  February  20,  1904. 


A  SURVEY  OF  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  WORLD  221 

of  teaching  scientifically.  Personally  I  do  not  expect  very  much  can  be  done  along 
these  lines  until  such  times  as  radical  steps  are  taken  to  place  the  Sunday-school 
teacher  on  a  par  with  day-school  teachers,  and  proper  remuneration  for  their 
services  is  given  them. 

Another  authority'^  asks:  "Shall  not  the  church  do  at  least  as  much 
for  its  children  as  the  state  essays  to  do  ?"  All  of  us  will  regret  the  day 
when  the  beautiful  devotion  of  unsalaried  service  that  has  hitherto 
characterized  the  teaching  force  of  the  school  shall  be  invaded  by  salaried 
professionalism.  And  yet  would  this  be  more  than  has  been  done  by 
the  state  in  doing  the  work  of  the  parent  in  secular  education  ?  Would 
it  not  be  less  ?  Possibly  the  pastor  will  come  to  the  rescue  in  a  way  to  be 
hereafter  indicated. 

4.  The  lesson  problem  looms  up  sharply,  as  is  seen  in  debates  con- 
cerning supplementary  lessons  to  the  uniform  series/^  the  issue  of  alter- 
nate series  by  publishing  houses  allied  to  the  International  Association, 
the  growing  use  of  other  schemes  already  established,  the  introduc- 
tion of  new  schemes,  and  the  vigorous  criticism  of  everything  now  in 
the  field.  All  extremes  of  opinion  are  confidently  put  forth.  A 
widely  known  publisher^^  declares:  "So  far  as  Sunday-schoollesson- 
helps  go,  in  my  judgment  Sunday-school  teachers  are  getting  the  best 
that  modern  scholarship  can  afford,  and  that  which  is  much  ahead  of 
what  is  taught  in  the  average  theological  seminary."  An  equally  well- 
known  editor  of  the  uniform  series '^  says:  "In  our  own  denomination 
there  is  a  very  progressive  tendency — a  tendency  which  at  times  has 
bothered  me,  inasmuch  as  I  am  pushed  to  go  more  rapidly  than  our 
constituency  as  a  whole  is  prepared  to  go.  The  demand  is  so  strong 
with  us  that  we  have  this  year  issued  an  outside  course."  A  wide 
observer, '5  interested  in  no  system,  declares:  "That  the  uniform  lesson 
is  a  dead  hand  seems  to  be  the  verdict  of  the  last  quarter  of  a  century. 
Not  simpler  questions,  but  other  questions,  should  be  propounded  to 
the  lower  grades."  One  who  has  investigated'*^  says:  "There  is  no 
agreement  among  the  advocates  of  graded  schemes  of  study  as  to  a  cur- 
riculum for  Sunday  schools." 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  present  situation  is  chaotic.  The  tend- 
ency is  entirely  away  from  uniformity.  Graded  uniform  lessons, 
gradation   without   uniformity,    ecclesiastical,    ecclesiastical,   liturgical 

"  Rev.  J.  Sanders  Reed,  D.D.,  in  letter  to  writer,  February  20,  1904. 

'"  See  Report  of  Denver  Convention,  1902. 

•3  David  C.  Cook,  in  letter  to  writer,  January  15,  1904. 

'4  M.  C.  Hazard,  Ph.D.,  editor  Congregational  Sunday  School  &=  Publishing  Society,  in  letter 
to  writer,  January  14.  1904. 

»5  Rev.  J.  Sanders  Reed,  D.D.  ■'  President  Rush  Rhees,  Rochester  University. 


222  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCL\TION 

instruction,  and  a  variety  of  miscellaneous  schemes  contend  with  con- 
fusing clamor.  A  large  mmiber  of  factors  enter  into  the  discussion. 
Were  all  these  factors  spiritual  and  educational,  there  might  be  a  possi- 
biht}-  of  agreement.  But  where  some  are  purely  sentimental,  others 
dogmatic,  others  severely  ecclesiastical,  and  others  sordidly  commer- 
cial, there  seems  to  be  no  prospect  of  agreement. 

One  happy  tendency  may  here  be  noted.  There  is  an  increasing 
disposition  to  use  the  historical  method  of  Bible  study,  and  to  employ 
the  fruits  of  reverent  modem  scholarship.  The  purely  homiletic  method 
win  disappear.  The  future  teaching  will  be  something  else  than  the 
repetition  of  ideas  borrowed  from  "helps,"  or  from  weekly  lectures  of 
a  leader  of  a  teachers'  class. 

5.   The  abvmdance  of  Sunday-school  Uterature  is  bewildering. 

(i)  In  quantity-  the  lesson-helps  excel.  Most  of  them  are  sectarian 
in  origin  and  purpose  and  in  some  centralized  church  governments  the 
use  of  them  is  made  a  test  of  loyalt)-.  ^^'hen  opportunity  occurs,  this 
literature  is  well-colored  with  sectarian  hues.  Some  of  the  lesson-helps 
are  undenominational,  and  when  deahng  with  disputed  matters  are 
colorless  in  the  attempt  to  please  all  and  to  offend  none.  Many  schools, 
gi%-ing  attention  to  their  own  special  welfare,  use  this  undenominational 
literature. 

(2)  The  use  of  Sunday-school  periodical  papers,  of  which  more  than 
seventy  are  in  circulation,  is  not  increasing.  They  are  not  prized  by 
bovs  and  girls  who  have  been  introduced  to  the  excellent  superior  litera- 
ture now  pro\-ided  for  them  by  specialists.  Originally  supphing  a  need, 
they  now  linger  on,  with  their  circulation  largest  where  ignorance  of  the 
better  literature  is  greatest.  Gradual  extension  of  periodical  literatm-e 
for  the  young  will  displace  these  papers,  except  where  ecclesiastical 
influences  support  them. 

(3)  The  librar}-  has  also  changed.  The  good  periodical  literature, 
the  increase  in  number  and  decrease  in  the  price  of  good  books  for  the 
young,  their  accessibilit}-  in  stores  and  public  libraries,  and  the  develop- 
ment of  a  taste  for  the  best  reading  in  our  day  schools,  have  banished 
the  traditional  Sunday-school  book  from  the  libraries  except  in  the  most 
unprogressive  places.  Fiction,  biography,  popular  science,  travel, 
books  of  reference,  histon.-,  and  poetn-  have  supplanted  them.  In  some 
schools  the  librar)-  has  been  abandoned.  In  some  others  only  books 
that  aid  in  the  study  of  the  Bible,  or  treat  of  methods  or  pedagogics,  are 
found.  The  relation  of  the  librar}-  to  the  school,  especially  in  our  large 
cities  and  to^-ns,  needs  fresh  discussion. 

(4)  There  is  now  brilliantly  crescent  a  literature  that  has  '0  do  with 


A  SURVEY  OF  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  WORLD  223 

method.  Child-study  has  come  to  the  front.  Psychology  regulates 
pedagogics.  The  folly  of  feeding  milk  to  men  and  strong  meat  to  babes 
is  to  end.  The  Uterature  is  already  fairly  abundant.  Even  a  partial 
bibliography  would  be  impossible  here.  The  existence  of  this  literature, 
with  the  prospect  of  using  its  suggestions  in  the  best  schools,  marks  an 
advance  which  will  eventually  affect  even  the  most  unprogressive 
schools.  Heretofore  the  exhortation  has  been:  "You  must  know  your 
Bible."  Without  in  the  least  diminishing  this  imperative,  indeed  with 
added  emphasis  to  it,  this  new  literature  says:  "You  must  also  know 
your  child. "  No  species  of  Sunday-school  literature  has  been  so  enriched 
in  the  last  few  years  as  this.  It  is  here  that  our  methods  are  to  receive 
the  best  benefactions  in  the  immediate  future  from  our  scientific  students 
of  the  human  mind. 

6.   Some  tendencies  apparent  in  the  present  situation  call  for  notice. 

(i)  The  importance  of  the  Sunday  school  is  recognized  as  never 
before.  Scholarly  Christian  men  who  \\dsh  to  be  both  theoretically 
and  practically  helpful  are  studying  its  problems  and  seeking  their 
solution,  in  spite  of  ungracious  criticisms  in  some  quarters.  These  men 
will  either  redeem  the  term  "Simday  school"  from  the  contempt  in 
which  it  has  fallen,  or  v/ill  cause  it  to  be  supplanted  by  some  other  name 
which  more  accurately  describes  the  institution.  Both  these  results 
have  occurred  in  a  few  places.  If  our  conceptions  as  to  all  its  depart- 
ments, and  energies,  and  methods  are  now  confused,  let  us  have  faith 
to  believe  these  throes  of  transition  are  only  the  birth-pains  of  a  higher 
and  more  useful  life.  Every  process  of  development  inevitably  leaves 
the  debris  of  an  outgrowTi  past  in  reaching  a  nobler  present  and  future. 

An  extension  work  has  been  started,  called  the  "Home  Depart- 
ment," consisting  of  about  35,000  visitors  and  260,000  students.  WTiat 
are  these  among  the  millions  of  church  members  who  do  no  systematic 
or  intelligent  study  of  the  Bible  ?  But  we  may  well  be  grateful  for  all 
efforts  in  this  direction. 

(2)  There  is  a  tendency  to  exploit  the  schools  in  the  interest  of 
enterprises  external  to  itself.  The  hospitaUty  toward  the  social  idea 
of  the  school  makes  this  opportunity.  Temperance  societies,  personal- 
piuity  movements,  brigades,  Bible-reading  schemes,  clubs,  local  philan- 
thropies, missionary  specifics,  and  other  miscellaneous  objects,  are 
introduced  into  the  current  work  of  the  schools.  WTiether  they  inter- 
fere with  the  genuine  purpose  of  a  school  depends  upon  the  ideal  which 
each  school  sets  for  itself.  There  is  no  doubt  that  this  tendency  requires 
study  now.  It  is  a  question  how  far  the  inherent  worth  of  some  of 
these  things  and  the  importunity  of  those  officially  charged  with  their 


224  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

success  should  be  allowed  to  claim  the  schools.     Careful  discrimination 
is  needed  here. 

(3)  The  grading  of  the  school  may  now  fairly  be  said  to  be  deter- 
mined upon.  Such  a  step  is  almost  unanimously  indorsed.  Many 
schools  are  now  experimenting.  In  June,  1903,  the  Sunday  School 
Editorial  Association,  representing  nearly  every  religious  body,  inter- 
denominational in  character,  composed  of  forty-four  persons  actively 
engaged  in  the  work,  and  in  a  position  to  know  the  needs  and  possi- 
bilities of  schools  in  this  and  other  lands,  unanimously  voted  in  favor 
of  graded  supplemental  lessons  to  the  uniform  series.  The  ill-fated 
movement  in  Denver  in  1902  was  an  effort  in  the  same  direction.  Schools 
are  already  loosely  graded.  Psychology  will  finally  determine  the 
scheme  of  grading,  and  pedagogics  will  be  forced  to  recognize  it.  That 
the  public  schools  have  stimulated  our  movement  in  this  direction  can 
no  longer  be  questioned,  however  seriously  the  possibiUty  of  adopting 
their  methods  may  be  disputed.  It  is  enough  to  say  that  scholars 
attending  both  public  and  Sunday  schools  recognize  the  difference 
between  the  two,  and  their  respect  for  the  ill-graded  school  will  be 
sUght. 

(4)  The  rational  relation  of  the  pastor  of  the  church  to  the  Sunday 
school  is  now  reafl&rmed.  Ofl&cial  jealousy  of  his  guidance  of  the  edu- 
cational affairs  of  the  school,  the  allegiance  of  the  school  to  outside 
interdenominational  movements,  and  often  the  failure  of  the  pastor 
himself  to  realize  and  to  discharge  the  responsibilities  of  his  normal 
relation,  have  combined  to  make  him  content  to  keep  his  hands  off 
the  educational  work  of  the  school.  Two  lamentable  facts  have  con- 
tributed to  this  pastoral  resignation  or  neglect:  First,  the  Christian 
ministry  is  the  only  vocation  in  life  for  which  a  man  may  thoroughly 
prepare  by  years  of  toil  without  attaining  the  authority  of  an  expert. 
The  educated  minister's  opinions  are  as  freely  challenged  by  the  igno- 
rant as  if  he  had  experienced  no  more  special  training  than  his  chal- 
lengers. The  value  of  expert  utterance  universally  conceded  to  all 
other  occupations,  industrial  or  professional,  is  denied  to  him.  Has 
not  the  time  come  for  an  assertion  of  his  authority  in  this  sphere? 
And  secondly,  the  course  of  training  for  the  ministry  has  not  hereto- 
fore included  special  preparation  for  leadership  in  the  religious  educa- 
tion of  the  young.  Very  lately  some  of  the  seminaries  have  introduced 
courses  of  lectures  on  the  Sunday  school,  and  the  pastor's  relation  to  it. 
More  than  this  is  necessary  to  prepare  for  a  service  in  this  direction 
such  as  the  pastoral  relation  demands.  If  in  theological  training  he 
must  be  compelled  to  choose  between  a  knowledge  of  the  church  fathers, 


A  SURVEY  OF  THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  WORLD  225 

and  a  preparation  to  nurture  the  church  children,  let  him  consent  to 
leave  the  antiquities  to  the  antiquarian,  and  insist  upon  adequate  train- 
ing for  his  practical  duties.  If  he  does  not  get  a  knowledge  of  psy- 
chology at  college,  let  it  be  given  to  him  in  the  seminary  with  special 
reference  to  Sunday-school  work.  Here  is  the  shortest  way  to  secure 
competent  teachers.  The  pastor  himself,  or  the  trained  superinten- 
dent, should  train  them.  It  is  a  legitimate  part  of  his  work,  and  ought 
to  be  a  labor  of  high  dignity  and  privilege.  His  immediate  contact 
with  his  teachers  can  accomplish  far  more  than  books,  and  schools  of 
correspondence,  or  blind  self-help.  If  properly  equipped  for  this  func- 
tion, he  will  be  able  to  develop  his  own  teaching  force,  and  to  keep 
his  hand,  where  it  belongs,  on  the  religious  instruction  in  his  school. 
The  formation  of  the  Religious  Education  Association  is  providential 
and  timely.  The  argument  for  its  existence  is  found  in  conditions  as 
they  are,  and  in  our  ignorance  of  them.  If  this  Sunday  School  Depart- 
ment shall  be  able  to  bring  to  light  the  actual  state  of  aflfairs,  to  detect 
existing  tendencies,  to  check  some  and  to  stimulate  others,  and  to  intro- 
duce into  the  Sunday-school  world  some  precipitants  for  the  cloudy 
conditions,  it  will  assure  untold  blessing  upon  the  work  so  essential  to 
our  religious  and  moral  welfare. 


THE  PRESENT  USE  OF  GRADED  LESSONS 
DELBERT  S.  ULLRICK,  A.M.,S.T.B., 

BERWYN,   ILLINOIS 

The  essential  characteristic  of  a  graded  course  for  the  Sunday  school 
is  the  selection  of  Biblical  as  well  as  expository  material  adapted  to  the 
apperceptive  power  of  the  child  in  the  several  stages  of  his  normal 
relig"ous  development,  together  with  the  adaptation  of  methods  of 
teaching  to  the  unfolding  and  varying  mind  of  the  child. 

The  most  complete  graded  system  in  use  is  that  of  the  General 
Council  of  the  Lutheran  Church.  It  has  been  in  use  about  eight  years 
and  is  slowly  finding  its  way  into  the  schools  of  the  denomination. 
Its  cloth-bound  text-books  are  displacing  the  ephemeral  lesson  leaves 
within  the  church.  Because  of  their  denominational  coloring,  these 
lessons  are  not  used  by  other  denominations. 

The  Episcopal  Church  is  progressing  toward  graded  instruction,  as 
is  shown  by  the  "Model  Series"  of  Sunday-school  lessons  issued  by 
the  Sunday  School  Commission  of  the  Diocese  of  New  York;  this 
series  had  a  sale  of  over  55,000  copies  in  the  year  ending  September, 
1903. 

Independent  courses  prepared  by  the  teachers  in  a  school  or  in  a 
group  of  schools  are  becoming  numerous.  The  Congregationalists  are 
the  most  prolific  in  the  production  of  such  courses.  The  Tabernacle 
Sunday  School  in  Chicago  leads  a  group  of  Congregational  schools  in 
northern  Illinois  in  the  use  of  such  courses.  The  Howard  Avenue  Con- 
gregational Sunday  School,  of  New  Haven,  Conn.,  uses  courses  which 
have  been  published  by  the  pastor,  Rev.  W.  J.  Mutch.  These  courses 
are  in  use  also  in  the  La  Vergne  Congregational  School,  Berwyn,  111., 
the  First  Congregational  School  of  Grand  Rapids,  Mich.,  the  First 
Congregational  School  of  Grinnell,  Iowa,  the  Congregational  School  of 
Plantsville,  Conn.,  and  elsewhere.  The  First  Union  Presbyterian  School 
of  New  York  city  is  the  pioneer  in  a  group  of  five  schools  using  an 
excellent  graded  system.  The  following  schools  also  have  separate 
courses:  Hyde  Park  Baptist,  New  England  Congregational,  Leavitt 
Street  Congregational,  Chicago;  First  Methodist  Episcopal,  and  First 
Congregational,  Oakland,  Cal. ;  Trinity  Episcopal,  and  Church  of  the 
Disciples,  Boston:  Teachers  College  Sunday  School,  St.  Mark's  Epis- 
copal, and  Trinity   Cathedral,   New  York   city;   Woodward   Avenue 

226 


THE  PRESENT  USE  OF  GRADED  LESSONS  227 

Congregational,  Detroit;  First  Congregational,  Manchester,  N.  H.;  First 
Congregational,  Lenox,  Mass.;  First  Baptist,  Fresno,  Cal. 

Graded  courses  are  used  by  a  number  of  schools  under  the  name  of 
supplemental  or  additional  lessons.  These  divide  the  time  and  atten- 
tion of  the  school  with  the  International  Lessons,  as,  for  example,  in 
the  First  Presbyterian  Sunday  School  of  Grand  Rapids,  Mich. 

The  "Beginners'  Course,"  prepared  by  a  subcommittee  of  the  Inter- 
national Lesson  Committee,  is  finding  wide  acceptance  in  the  schools 
where  the  International  Lessons  are  in  favor. 

There  are  other  lesson  systems,  such  as  those  of  the  Unitarian  Sun- 
day School  Society  and  the  Bible  Study  Union  Lessons,  which  contain 
excellent  features,  but  which  cannot  be  called  graded  courses  because 
they  are  based  on  the  principle  of  uniformity  in  lesson  material.  This 
is  recognized  by  their  authors.  The  principle  upon  which  the  Biblical 
material  is  selected  is  not  primarily  adaptation  to  the  child-mind,  but 
that  of  consecutive  biographical  or  historical  study.  Nevertheless,  the 
abundance,  or  superabundance  as  some  think,  of  material  offered  by 
these  quasi-graded  courses,  from  which  selections  may  be  made  to  meet 
the  present  urgent  need  for  graded  material,  and  the  results  secured 
from  them,  justify  the  consideration  given  them. 

With  respect  to  the  results  obtained  it  is,  as  Professor  E.  D.  Burton 
remarks,  "easier  to  tell  what  has  happened  since  the  curriculum  was 
introduced  than  to  affirm  that  all  these  things  are  the  results  of  the 
curriculum." 

Reports  from  those  using  the  Bible  Study  Union  courses  in  Sunday 
schools  with  an  average  attendance  of  from  150  to  500  show  that  the 
pupils  get  a  more  thorough  understanding  and  knowledge  of  the  Bible, 
study  at  home,  pass  creditable  examinations,  learn  to  use  the  Bible ; 
that  parents  show  deeper  interest  and  help  the  pupils ;  that  teachers  study 
more  and  teach  better;  that  the  general  interest  is  deepened  and  the 
attendance  is  increased  and  made  steadier.  The  difficulties  reported  are 
lack  of  trained  teachers  to  handle  the  lessons;  objection  to  doing  the 
written  work,  especially  on  the  part  of  pupils  from  twelve  to  sixteen  years 
of  age ;  lessons  too  complicated ;  increased  difficulty  for  teachers  when 
pupils  fail  to  study.  Except  that  of  the  lack  of  trained  teachers,  these 
difficulties  really  have  their  root  in  the  fact  that  the  lessons  attempt 
to  cover  too  much  ground.  The  quarterlies  contain  "such  a  mass  of 
material,"  as  one  teacher  puts  it,  that  neither  teacher  nor  pupils  will 
wade  through  it  all. 

The  thoroughly  graded  courses  of  the  Lutheran  General  Council 
have  developed  capacity  and  love  of  study,  toned  up  the  spirit,  conduct. 


228  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

and  general  work  of  the  schools,  increased  the  attendance  of  both 
teachers  and  pupils,  increased  the  offerings,  made  the  teachers  students, 
increased  the  efficiency  of  the  officers,  and  kept  the  larger  boys  and  girls 
in  the  school  in  order  to  complete  the  course. 

The  reports  from  those  using  the  New  York  Sunday  School  Com- 
mission courses  have  been  scanty.  As  the  course  was  first  published  in 
December,  1902,  it  is  probably  too  soon  to  judge  of  the  results.  St. 
George's  Sunday  School,  New  York  city,  the  birthplace  of  the  system, 
reports:  "Results  obtained  are  satisfactory  in  that  one  entire  Junior 
Department  of  700  scholars  all  work  up  the  lessons  at  home  and  all 
own  their  Bibles.  In  the  Senior  Department  about  60  per  cent,  do  the 
work  at  home."  The  superintendent  expresses  the  opinion  that  this 
percentage  will  be  increased  every  year. 

Reports  from  independent  graded  courses  agree  that  the  interest  and 
attendance  are  greatly  increased,  and  that  intelligent  Bible  study  and  a 
more  thorough  knowledge  of  the  Bible  naturally  follow.  The  First 
Congregational  School,  Ottawa,  111.,  reports  a  larger  number  of  boys 
of  high-school  age  in  the  pastor's  class  than  he  had  ever  succeeded  in 
getting  under  the  old  system.  The  Leavitt  Street  Congregational 
School,  Chicago,  reports  more  young  men  and  women  held  in  the 
school.  The  course  used  in  the  Church  of  the  Messiah,  Brooklyn,  is 
said  to  hold  the  young  men  to  the  church.  The  Hyde  Park  Baptist 
Church,  Chicago,  has  had  a  goodly  number  of  additions  to  the  member- 
ship each  year  since  the  graded  course  was  introduced.  Such  results 
are  due  to  the  interest  and  enthusiasm  aroused  in  both  teachers  and 
pupils.  The  esprit  de  corps  of  this  school  speaks  eloquently  to  the 
visitor  of  the  value  of  the  graded  lessons.  Examinations  and  promo- 
tions are  established  features  here,  as  in  some  other  schools. 

Herbert  W.  Gates,  superintendent  of  the  Leavitt  Street  Congrega- 
tional School,  Chicago,  says  the  chief  obstacles  to  graded  instruction  are 
(i)  the  lack  of  good  text-books  and  helps.  This  is  partly  overcome  by 
the  establishment  of  a  good  reference  library  which  is  always  accessible 
to  the  teachers.  (2)  The  difficulty  of  securing  good  teachers,  who  study 
their  lessons  and  know  how  to  teach  them.  Other  schools  report  the 
difficulty  of  getting  the  teachers  away  from  the  idea  of  preaching  a  ser- 
mon in  every  lesson.  In  the  La  Vergne  Congregational  School,  Berwyn, 
111.,  we  have  been  working  out  a  course  on  the  basis  of  sound  pedagogy, 
and  the  most  recent  conclusions  of  the  psychology  of  religion.  Lectures 
on  Sunday-school  pedagogy  are  delivered  every  week  for  the  benefit  of 
both  teachers  and  parents.  Individual  assistance  is  given  to  the  teach- 
ers as  far  as  possible.     We  use  the  International  "Beginners'  Course," 


THE  PRESENT  USE  OF  GRADED  LESSONS  229 

Mutch's  "Junior  Bible  Stories,"  and  one  course  of  the  Sunday  School 
Commission  lessons;  and  in  the  adult  division  a  course  of  the  American 
Institute  of  Sacred  Literature.  With  the  boys  and  girls  from  twelve  to 
fourteen  years  of  age  we  are  working  out  a  course  on  the  life  of  Christ, 
using  as  a  basis  the  Sunday  School  Commission  course  and  Forbush's 
"Illuminated  Life  of  Christ."  The  interest  and  increased  earnestness  of 
teachers  and  pupils  indicate  that  our  aim  to  bring  the  pupils  at  the  proper 
age  into  vital  personal  relation  with  Jesus  as  their  Lord  and  Savior  by 
providing  the  means  of  normal  religious  development  will  be  accom- 
pUshed. 

This  general  survey  indicates  that  a  very  large  number  of  Lutheran, 
Episcopalian,  Congregational,  and  Unitarian  schools,  and  a  significant 
number  of  Methodist,  Baptist,  and  Presbyterian  schools,  are  using 
graded  courses.  The  results  of  the  use  of  graded  courses  show  that  by 
this  means  the  Sunday  school  best  accompUshes  its  real  purpose  to  be  at 
once  educational  and  rehgious.  Pupils,  teachers,  and  parents  study 
more,  get  a  better  knowledge  of  the  Bible,  and  enter  more  heartily  into  the 
spirit  and  work  of  the  Sunday  school. 


THE  ADAPTABILITY  OF   THE   BIBLE  TO   THE 
GRADED  LESSON 

REV.  SAMUEL  B.  HASLETT,  Ph.D., 

PASTOR   PEOPLES    CHURCH,    WORCESTER,    MASSACHUSETTS 

The  variety  of  experience  recorded  in  the  Bible  is  one  of  its  chief 
features.  So  diversified  and  rich  are  the  contents  that  many  people 
beheve  the  Bible  to  be  the  best  manual  of  religious  education  we  pos- 
sess. The  adaptability  of  its  material  to  the  graded  lesson  is  natural, 
arising  from  the  following  considerations : 

I.  There  is  a  law  of  development.  The  moral  and  religious  aspects 
of  the  life  of  a  people  are  the  most  important  phases  of  racial  history. 
These  two- phases  develop  slowly  and  with  difficulty,  perhaps  in  propor- 
tion to  the  natural  endowment  of  the  soul;  yet  they  keep  pace  as  a  rule 
with  the  development  of  the  whole  nature.  The  moral  and  reHgious 
condition  of  any  people  at  any  stage  in  their  history  corresponds  quite 
closely  with  their  general  development  at  the  time.  And  if  one  could 
select  wisely  and  properly  from  their  literature  through  the  entire  course 
of  their  career,  a  Bible  of  that  people  would  be  the  result,  if  such  selec- 
tion could  be  made  in  the  sphere  of  morals  and  religion.  The  Bible  of 
the  Hebrews  is  the  literary  expression  of  the  moral  and  religious  develop- 
ment of  the  most  religious  people  of  all  time,  and  through  this  develop- 
ment there  has  come  down  to  us  a  divine  revelation. 

The  Bible,  then,  has  a  history,  and  is  to  be  studied  and  interpreted 
in  this  light.  We  may  expect  to  find  advance  in  the  moral  and  religious 
conceptions  and  standards  given  here  from  Genesis  to  Revelation,  and 
these  conceptions  and  standards  are  to  be  explained  chiefly  in  view  of  the 
stages  of  development  of  the  Hebrew  people  to  which  they  relate  or  in 
which  they  arose. 

The  child  also  has  a  history.  He  too  is  the  product  of  a  develop- 
ment. He  is  not  simply  the  final  outcome  of  a  series  of  accretions, 
material  and  spiritual.  His  organism  has  grown  in  size,  complexity, 
richness,  and  skill.  The  child  is  self-directive  and  creative;  his  own 
initiative  is  an  important  factor  in  his  development. 

2.  The  historical  development  of  the  child  is  similar  to  the  historical 
development  of  the  race.  It  is  generally  understood  that  savagery,  bar- 
barism, civilization,  and  culture  are  the  great  landmarks  in  the  advance 
of  the  most  enlightened  peoples.  It  is  also  believed  that  certain  periods 
of  development  may  be  noticed  in  the  history  of  the  individual,  corre- 

230 


THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  GRADED  LESSON  231 

spending  n  a  measure  to  those  of  the  race.  The  general  interests, 
activities,  and  tendencies  of  a  child  seem  to  justify  a  belief  in  recapitu- 
lation. So  the  religious  development  of  an  individual  parallels,  in  a 
measure,  the  religious  development  of  the  race.  The  chief  stages  of 
racial  religious  development  are  the  animistic,  mythological,  polytheistic, 
ethical,  and  spiritual.  All  of  these  stages  may  be  traced  in  the  religious 
development  of  an  individual,  except  possibly  the  polytheistic  against 
vi^hich  nature  would  guard  the  child  by  hastening  him  through  it.  The 
child  is  at  first  a  nature-worshiper,  revealing  reverence  for  natural  objects. 
He  believes  the  moon,  clouds,  stars,  fire,  wind,  stones,  plants,  trees,  and 
streams  alive  and  able  to  communicate  with  him.  Then  follows  a  stage 
dominated  by  myth  and  a  belief  in  the  reahty  of  beings  apart  from 
nature.  The  deifying  of  persons  and  natural  objects  may  indicate  a 
polytheistic  stage.  Soon  there  appear  an  interest  in  law  and  duty  and  a 
realization  of  divine  authority  over  human  Hfe.  The  ethical  sense 
develops  rapidly.  At  the  beginning  of  adolescence  the  spiritual  phase 
of  religion  appears  and  soon  becomes  dominant.  The  religion  of  an 
individual  is  first  credulous,  then  fanciful,  then  questioning,  then  emo- 
tional, and  lastly  intellectual.  Sense,  fancy,  will,  emotion,  reason,  and 
the  sentiments  dominate  in  turn. 

The  religion  of  primitive  man  is  very  sensuous,  until  fancy  creates 
the  myths  opening  the  way  for  the  subjective.  Then  polytheism 
appears,  creating  social  strife  among  the  gods  and  the  people.  As  the 
sense  of  morality  develops,  certain  gods  become  superior  to  others;  and 
in  time  one  god  is  considered  supreme,  the  higher  ethical-spiritual 
notion  becoming  dominant  in  the  life. 

When  we  turn  to  the  Bible  we  find  traces  of  a  similar  religious 
development  among  the  Hebrews.  Their  religion  did  not  come  to  them 
in  a  finished  form.  In  their  religious  development,  as  revealed  in  the 
Old  Testament,  there  is  first  a  sensuous  and  a  spectacular  stage,  quickly 
merging  into  a  second  and  more  mythological  stage  which  is  strangely 
personal,  followed  by  a  third  stage  that  is  social  and  increasingly  ethical, 
which  in  turn  gives  way  to  a  ritualistic  stage,  this  again  being  super- 
seded by  the  prophetic  stage  of  greater  spiritual  activity. 

There  is  the  dominating  presence  of  an  enlarging  and  purifying  ideal. 
The  human  mind  is  haunted  by  an  ideal  life.  From  the  very  nature  of 
the  soul  it  must  create,  long  for,  strive  toward  the  realization  of  the 
perfect  and  the  true.  An  ideal  organizes  mental  forces  and  activities, 
focuses  them  upon  some  worthy  object,  and  provides  a  safe  standard  by 
which  to  measure  one's  attainments. 

Each  stag:;  of  human  life  has  its  own  ideal,  influenced  somewhat  by 


232  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

environment  and  general  conditions  of  life.  Forcing  and  retarding  this 
ideal  are  dangers  to  be  avoided  in  religious  education.  The  ideal  must 
be  natural  and  suited  to  the  mental  development.  The  ideal  of  the 
youngest  child  is  embodied  in  the  parents  and  others  within  his  imme- 
diate acquaintance.  Looks,  dress,  and  general  appearance  are  modi- 
fying factors  in  the  choice.  Soon  after  school  life  begins,  the  ideals  of 
children  change  in  personnel,  being  selected  from  among  those  of  whom 
the  child  reads  or  is  told.  Moral  elements  enter  into  choice  at  about 
the  age  of  eight  years.  At  the  dawn  of  adolescence  contemporary 
characters  are  chosen  as  ideals,  historical  interests  influencing  the 
choices  made.  Altruistic,  philanthropic,  reformative,  and  missionary 
characteristics  become  central  in  the  ideals  of  youth.  If  Biblical  char- 
acters seem  to  be  seldom  chosen  as  ideals  by  children  and  youth,  the 
inference  is  that  they  have  not  been  properly  and  sufficiently  acquainted 
in  their  religious  instruction,  with  the  great  men  and  women  of  the 
Scriptures.  The  prominence  of  biography  in  creating  ideals  makes  the 
Bible  particularly  well  adapted  as  study  material  for  all  the  grades. 

The  Bible  is  a  book  of  ideals.  Each  age  has  its  own  great  person- 
ages that  stand  out  clear  and  strong,  representing  the  best  the  age 
had  realized  or  longed  for.  An  important  mission  of  the  prophet 
was  to  depict  to  the  nation  through  his  superior  vision  future  condi- 
tions of  peace,  happiness,  and  power.  There  were  Eden,  Sinai,  Canaan, 
Zion,  Zion  restored,  and  the  New  Jerusalem — all  ideals  and  each 
fitting  a  place  in  the  religious  development  of  a  great  people.  The 
Messianic  prophecies  are  another  expression  of  the  tendency  among 
Biblical  writers  to  inspire  and  encourage  the  people  by  the  hope  and 
promise  of  something  better  to  come. 

All  the  stages  of  development  are  represented  in  the  Ufe'of  Old  Tes- 
tament characters.  Many  leaders  and  prophets  had  reached  in  their 
religious  life  a  New  Testament  stage;  but  the  mass  of  people  did  not 
attain  such  advanced  condition.  The  New  Testament  includes  the 
most  mature  phases  of  moral  and  rehgious  life.  The  highest  thought 
of  the  Old  Testament  is  given  larger  and  full  expression  in  the  New. 
The  two  Testaments  overlap  in  their  reach  and  teachings.  The  proph- 
ecies and  poetical  books  are  adapted  to  adolescence.  The  New  Tes- 
tament, chiefly  in  its  present  order,  is  suited  largely  to  adolescence  and 
mature  life.  The  Old  Testament,  in  the  main,  is  best  suited  to  the 
religious  instruction  of  children  up  to  twelve  or  thirteen  years  of  age; 
and  the  New  Testament,  in  the  main,  is  best  suited  to  the  religious 
instruction  of  youth  and  mature  minds.  But  this  distinction  is  not 
absolute  and  unalterable.     Many  gospel  stories,  stories  from  the  Acts, 


THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  GRADED  LESSON  233 

and  passages  from  certain  epistles  are  proper  material  for  childhood 
instruction. 

When  making  selections  for  memory,  lesson,  or  illustrative  material, 
we  must  not  lose  sight  of  the  moral  and  religious  ideal  dominating  each 
passage.  The  doctrinal  parts  of  Scripture  are  wholly  unsuited  to  the 
childhood  period,  because  their  ideals  are  beyond  the  grasp  of  the  child- 
mind.  The  writings  of  the  reforming  prophets  and  the  Hfe  of  Christ 
are  adapted  to  youth,  because  the  ideals  here  set  forth  appeal  to  ado- 
lescent minds.  Christ  is  the  supreme  ideal  character  for  youth,  because 
He  is  morally  and  spiritually  perfect  and  proves  Himself  the  world's 
greatest  hero.  Christ  should  be  presented  to  children  simply,  naturally, 
and  normally;  when  so  presented  He  will  appeal  to  the  child-mind,  for 
His  life  at  every  stage  is  full,  rounded,  complete.  Each  stage  of  human 
life  may  find  suitable  material  in  the  Psalms.  On  the  whole,  this  book 
is  best  adapted  to  mature  minds ;  but  the  imagery  in  some  of  the  Psalms 
and  their  realistic  descriptions  make  them  appropriate  for  later  child- 
hood. 

4.  The  Hterary  character  of  the  Bible  gives  prominence  to  life. 
The  Bible  is  a  collection  of  literary  writings  chiefly  in  the  sphere  of 
morals  and  religion.  It  is  a  body  of  sifted  literature,  selected  for  intrin- 
sic value.  The  same  principles  of  criticism,  evaluation,  and  interpre- 
tation that  obtain  in  the  study  of  any  other  literature  are  to  be  observed 
here.  It  is,  like  any  other  literature,  the  product  of  the  age  or  ages 
that  produced  it,  and  is  responsive  to  the  thought  and  fundamental 
feelings  of  the  time.  The  character  and  hfe  of  a  people  are  in  large 
measure  revealed  in  their  hterature.  The  writings  that  abide  move 
along  the  great  highways  of  thought  and  activity.  The  chief  test  of 
any  literature  is  its  power  to  awaken  the  soul  and  to  urge  it  on  to  noble 
sentiments  and  deeds.  The  Bible  is  the  greatest  literature  because  of 
its  supreme  influence  on  life. 

If  the  chief  characteristics  of  the  best  and  the  enduring  books  are 
emotion,  imagination,  sincerity,  unity,  interest,  thought,  and  freedom 
from  the  didactic,  the  Bible  is  a  supreme  book.  It  is  "an  open  door 
into  a  world  where  emotion  is  expressed,  where  imagination  can  range, 
where  love  and  longing  find  a  language,  where  imagery  is  given  to  every 
noble  and  suppressed  passion  of  the  soul,  where  every  aspiration  finds 
wings."  Here  too,  the  intellect  can  marshal  all  its  forces  and  do  mighty 
battle,  and  the  will  be  forever  incited  to  greater  and  more  advanced 
undertakings. 

The  Bible  touches  human  hfe  at  all  points  and  in  all  its  stages  of 
advancement.     In   choosing   material   for  lessons   for   childhood   and 


234  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

youth  much  sifting  and  rearranging  must  be  done,  but  the  material  is 
in  the  Bible  and  often  is  the  best  to  be  found.  The  Bible  is  a  wonder- 
book  for  the  small  child;  a  story-book  for  the  large  child;  a  biography 
and  history  for  the  boy  and  the  girl;  a  book  of  adventure,  successes, 
and  morals  for  early  youth ;  a  record  of  ideals,  reforms,  and  struggles 
for  later  youth;  a  guide  in  religion  and  ethics  for  the  home-maker; 
a  comfort  and  a  help  to  those  who  have  important  decisions  to  make; 
and  a  consolation  and  a  refuge  for  the  troubled  and  oppressed.  Here 
too,  the  historian  finds  valuable  records  of  the  past;  the  statesman  may 
read  of  Hebrew  political  institutions;  the  philosopher  may  study  the 
Wisdom  books  or  the  writings  of  Paul ;  the  theologian  may  find  unfath- 
omed  truth;  the  lawyer  may  study  the  civil  laws  and  judicial  develop- 
ment of  a  great  nation;  the  ecclesiastic  finds  ritual  and  the  priesthood; 
the  mystic,  the  allegories  and  the  visions;  while  the  man  of  action  will 
be  interested  in  the  military  campaigns  and  the  missionary  enterprises. 
The  Bible  is  adapted  to  a  series  of  graded  lessons  founded  on  the 
nature  and  needs  of  the  pupil  because  it  has  come  down  to  us  through 
the  various  stages  of  growth  and  development  that  characterize  a  race, 
and  in  some  measure  the  individual.  Consequently  it  is  responsive  to 
the  interests,  ideals,  thought,  and  basal  feelings  of  those  stages. 


REV.  GEORGE  WHITEFIELD  MEAD,  Ph.D., 

PASTOR   FIRST    PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH,    NEWPORT,    RHODE   ISLAND 

The  adaptability  of  the  Bible  to  the  graded  lesson  is  conditioned  by 
certain  essential  considerations:  (i)  the  successive  stages  of  mental 
development  and  their  correlation  with  physical  development;  (2)  the 
purpose  for  which  the  Sunday  school  exists,  namely.  Biblical  instruction, 
creation  and  development  of  Christian  character,  and  the  placing  of 
pupils  in  a  permanent  way  of  soul-nutrition;  (3)  the  time  period  of 
prescribed  study;  (4)  the  awakening  of  a  permanent  interest  in  religious 
facts;  and  (5)  the  fundamental  principles  of  Biblical  interpretation. 
These  conditions  impose  an  orderly,  extended  course  of  study,  with  a 
view  to  progressive  acquisition  of  truth,  a  comprehensive  understanding 
of  the  Scriptures,  and  the  assimilation  of  religious  knowledge. 

The  Bible  is  the  precious  product  of  centuries,  a  library  of  many 
books,  with  many  varieties  of  literature.  It  contains  histories,  chronol- 
ogies, biographies,  prophecies,  poems,  proverbs,  stories,  songs,  dramas, 
idyls,  the  subHme  teachings  of  Jesus,  the  letters  of  St.  Paul.  If  we  are  to 
understand  the  Scriptures,  we  must  understand  literary  forms  which 
are  made  the  vehicle  of  thought;  also  the  character  of  the  writer,  the 
occasion  of  the  writing,  with  its  historical  setting  and  relations,  and 
various  related  utterances  and  events. 


THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  GRADED  LESSON  235 

Now,  how  can  the  BibHcal  material  be  adapted  to  graded  lessons 
for  childhood,  adolescence,  and  maturity  ? 

1.  The  primary  grade.  That  is,  the  kindergarten,  containing 
children  up  to  the  age  of  six;  and  the  primary  class  with  children  of 
seven  and  eight  years  of  age.  These  ages  represent  a  time  of  sense- 
perception,  of  imitation,  imagination,  rapid  physical  growth,  and  activity; 
only  the  simplest  language  is  understood;  there  is  a  pecuhar  suscepti- 
bihty  to  religious  impressions.  The  opportunity  here  is  to  teach  that 
the  rehgious  nature  is  not  something  imposed  from  without,  but  springs 
up  within  one's  being. 

The  lessons  should  consist  of  single,  simple  images  or  word-pictures 
of  Bible  persons  or  objects.  The  Bible  abounds  in  beautiful  stories 
suited  for  inculcating  the  spirit  of  the  Christian  life,  and  for  storing  the 
mind  with  facts  that  later  can  be  grouped  as  a  basis  for  historical  study. 

There  are  excellent  books  to  guide  instruction  for  this  grade,  such 
as  Margaret  Cushman  Haven's  Bible  Lessons  for  Little  Beginners  (The 
Revell  Co.,  Chicago),  Florence  Palmer  King's  One  Year  of  Lessons 
for  Young  Children  (The  Macmillan  Co.,  New  York),  and  Fred  erica 
Beard's  The  Kindergarten  Sunday  School  (The  Pilgrim  Press,  Boston). 

2.  The  intermediate  grade.  This  contains  children  from  about  nine 
to  twelve  years  of  age.  In  this  period  of  childhood  the  body  is  growing 
slowly,  mental  powers  are  increasing  rapidly,  the  memory  is  strong; 
there  is  love  of  reality,  which  finds  expression  in  preference  for  biography, 
history,  places,  nature,  related  events,  etc.,  rather  than  in  appeals  to 
the  imagination  and  sense  of  vision.  This  being  the  period  preceding 
adolescence,  many  things  may  be  learned  and  assimilated  that  will 
safeguard  the  after-life. 

What  has  the  Bible  to  offer  for  this  grade  of  instruction  ?  The  ninth 
year  may  be  given  to  a  study  of  the  connected  history  of  the  life  of 
Christ,  bringing  out  its  steps  of  progress  and  its  elementary  teachings. 
A  good  manual  for  the  work  of  this  year  is  From  Bethlehem  to  Olivet 
(Bible  Study  Union,  Boston).  The  tenth  year  should  be  devoted  to 
a  consecutive  study  of  the  books  of  the  Bible,  with  a  view  to  acquiring 
familiarity  with  their  contents  and  of  awakening  a  genuine  interest  in 
and  love  for  them  as  the  richest  of  all  Hterature.  A  suitable  handbook 
for  this  study  is  Georgia  L.  ChamberUn's  An  Introduction  to  the  Bible 
for  Teachers  of  Children  (The  University  of  Chicago  Press,  Chicago). 
For  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  years  the  biographical  portions  of  the 
Bible  are  useful.  The  study  of  heroes,  warriors,  kings,  and  leaders  of 
men  appeals  to  pupils  of  this  age,  for  their  interest  is  in  persons  and 
movements.     Biography   also   admits   of   enforcing    spiritual   lessons. 


236  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

Manuals  that  may  be  used  are  Great  Men  oj  Israel  and  The  Three 
Great  Apostles  (Bible  Study  Union,  Boston). 

3.  The  junior  grade.  During  the  transition  to  adolescence,  youth 
has  peculiar  perils,  emotions,  impulses,  and  needs;  there  are  new  ten- 
dencies and  powers  of  thought,  love  for  the  heroic  and  chivalrous,  and 
deepening  rehgious  feeling. 

The  thirteenth  year  may  be  given  to  a  study  of  Old  Testament 
history,  particularly  of  the  foreshadowings  of  Christ  among  the  Chosen 
People.  Teachers  will  find  valuable  The  Foreshadowings  oj  the  Christ 
(The  American  Institute  of  Sacred  Literature,  Chicago),  and  the  manual 
of  the  Bible  Study  Union,  covering  the  Old  Testament  history.  Pupils 
of  fourteen  years  of  age  should  again  study  the  life  of  Christ,  His  mis- 
sion, work,  teaching,  suffering,  and  death  as  described  by  the  four 
evangelists.  Christ  is  then  seen  as  a  divine  Redeemer,  and  also  as  a 
Friend  and  Brother.  This  is  a  year  when  boys  and  girls  can  be  best 
aided  to  right  religious  decisions.  The  outline  studies  of  the  life  of 
Christ  of  the  American  Institute  of  Sacred  Literature,  and  of  the  Bible 
Study  Union,  may  be  used.  For  the  fifteenth  year  the  pupil's  love  of 
life  and  movement  may  be  met  by  a  study  of  the  lives  of  the  apostles 
and  the  planting  and  growth  of  the  Apostolic  Church.  Again  the  courses 
of  the  American  Institute  of  Sacred  Literature  and  of  the  Bible  Study 
Union  are  recommended. 

4.  The  senior  department.  Young  people  of  sixteen  and  seven- 
teen years  of  age  should  study  the  books  of  the  Bible  in  chronological 
order  as  part  is  related  to  part;  also,  typical  personages  that  illuminate 
the  successive  periods  of  history  with  a  view  to  a  careful  review  of  the 
Bible  as  a  whole.  Such  study  gathers  up  and  systematizes  what  has 
been  learned  in  previous  years,  deepens  old  lessons  and  enforces  new 
ones,  and  prepares  for  meeting  the  intellectual  problems  of  pupils. 
Pupils  should  now  be  made  familiar  with  the  literary  form  of  the  Bible. 
In  the  work  of  these  two  years,  Moulton's  Modern  Reader^ s  Bible  will 
be  found  helpful;  also,  the  Graded  Lessons  of  the  New  York  Sunday 
School  Commission  should  be  consulted  (The  Young  Churchman 
Co.,  Milwaukee,  Wis.).  Young  people  of  eighteen  years  of  age  may  be 
interested  in  the  study  of  ancient  Jerusalem,  and  Bibhcal  geography  in 
general.  From  a  study  of  the  Holy  City  they  may  go  to  the  study  of 
the  books  of  the  Bible  closely  related  with  the  history  of  Jerusalem. 
Thus  the  Bible  becomes  a  Hving  and  fascinating  book.  Young  people 
from  nineteen  years  of  age  onward,  and  adults,  may  pursue  various 
courses  in  Old  Testament  and  New  Testament  history,  hterature,  and 
teaching. 


ORGANIZED  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  WORK 
REV.  GEORGE  R.  MERRILL,  D.D., 

SECRETARY    INTERNATIONAL    SUNDAY    SCHOOL   EXECUTIVE    COMMITTEE,   SUPERIN- 
TENDENT    CONGREGATIONAL     HOME     MISSIONARY     SOCIETY, 
MINNEAPOLIS,   MINNESOTA 

Once  in  three  years  representatives  of  the  million  and  a  half  Sunday- 
school  workers  of  America,  who  stand  for  the  fourteen  millions  who 
recognize  and  report  through  them,  meet  in  convention  to  survey  the 
Sunday-school  situation  and  outline  general  policies.  Between  con- 
ventions the  interests  of  the  organization,  within  the  policies  that  have 
been  determined,  are  intrusted  to  an  Executive  Committee.  The 
selection,  within  limits  prescribed  by  the  Convention,  of  the  Scripture 
portions  to  be  studied  in  the  Sunday  schools  is  committed  to  a  Lesson 
Committee.  Thus  far,  this  loose  form  of  organization  has  seemed  well 
adapted  to  the  necessities  of  the  situation,  allowing  freedom,  and  afford- 
ing room  for  development  that  might  be  hampered  by  constitutional 
organization. 

Much  advance  has  been  made  through  organized  Sunday-school 
work  in  the  present  generation:  the  gradual  but  positive  elevation  of 
ideals;  the  improvement  in  methods  and  machinery;  most  of  all,  the 
undoubted  fa:t  that  through  the  methods  and  inspiration  furnished  by 
organization,  the  product,  which  is  the  final  test  of  a  movement,  is 
more  abundant,  and  of  a  higher  grade  than  a  generation  ago.  Organ- 
ized Sunday-school  work  stands  for  three  things.  It  has  not  attained 
perfection  in  any  one  of  them,  but  it  is  moving  to  greater  efficiency  in 
each. 

1.  Organization,  valued  as  a  means  of  conducting  and  conserving 
life.  The  motto  is,  "A  Sunday  school  within  the  reach  of  every  possible 
scholar."  The  International  Sunday  School  Association  plants  no 
schools,  but  with  its  six  general  workers  in  the  field,  and  the  hosts  of 
unsalaried  helpers  upon  whom  it  can  call,  and  through  its  literature, 
it  impels  and  shapes  state  organizations  which  deem  themselves  charged 
with  these  duties,  and  inspires  and  informs  them  to  secure  county 
organizations  by  which  the  work  is  actually  done. 

2.  Evangelization,  as  effort  for  the  development  of  holy  character 
and  the  service  of  Christ  through  the  Sunday  school.  Avowedly  and 
in  the  large  this  has  been,  since  the  revival  of  1857-58,  the  specific 
aim  of  organized  Sunday-school  work.     This  is  still  the  supreme  pur- 

237 


238  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

pose  of  the  school,  and  of  the  work  of  the  teacher — to  bring  pupils  into 
a  saving  acquaintance  with  Jesus  Christ.  The  organized  Sunday-school 
work  directly  helps  to  the  realization  of  this  end  of  the  school  in  two 
ways:  by  the  provision  and  maintenance  of  the  Uniform  Lesson,  which 
has  made  possible  a  wealth  and  diversity  of  material  for  the  teacher's 
use  with  the  scholar,  the  larger  share  of  it  keyed  to  this  tone;  and  by 
the  erection  of  Decision  Day  into  an  institution.  In  a  broader  sense, 
it  has  reduced  the  work  of  evangelization  to  a  system  in  house-to-house 
visitation,  and  in  the  Home  Department  has  provided  a  way  to  its 
sustained  and  continuous  prosecution. 

3.  Education,  to  the  end  that  those  who  have  been  evangelized  may 
become  intelligent  Christians,  and  that  teachers  may  be  fitted  to  instruct 
as  well  as  to  evangeHze.  The  progress  of  the  organized  work  has  fol- 
lowed quite  closely  the  line  of  progress  in  the  individual  school;  first 
a  gathering  secured,  with  some  possible  opportunity  in  it  for  personal 
religious  impression;  as  organization  becomes  more  perfect,  and  there 
is  greater  mastery  of  the  material,  ordered  and  successful  evangehsm; 
then,  in  response  to  a  demand  that  could  not  have  arisen  sooner,  edu- 
cation, as  a  means  to  evangehsm.  The  Sunday-school  teacher  is  pro- 
vided with  normal  classes  and  courses  in  institutes  and  summer 
schools.  An  advance  step,  for  which  the  time  seemed  ripe,  has  lately 
been  taken,  in  the  creation  by  the  International  Sunday  School  Asso- 
ciation of  a  Department  of  Education,  in  charge  of  a  committee  com- 
posed, as  to  the  majority  of  its  membership,  of  men  of  recognized 
eminence  both  in  Sunday-school  and  educational  work.  The  creation 
of  this  department  is  evidence  that  the  organized  Sunday-school  work 
is  neither  indifferent,  nor  antagonistic,  to  the  evident  demand  of  the 
time  for  the  accentuation  of  the  Sunday  school  as  a  factor  in  religious 
education. 

I  may  be  permitted  to  add  some  personal  estimate  of  the  future  of 
organized  Sunday-school  work  in  its  relation  to  education.  I  have  no 
idea  that  the  Uniform  Lesson  is  likely  to  be  abandoned,  though  I  have 
hope  that  it  will  be  improved.  During  the  last  two  years  the  system 
has  been  crucially  tested  at  its  weakest  point,  the  use  of  the  uniform 
lesson  for  the  youngest  classes.  The  non-uniform  Beginners'  Courses, 
authorized  by  the  Denver  Convention,  "have  not  realized  enough  from 
their  sales  to  meet  the  expense  of  publication,  and  in  thousands  of 
instances  where  they  have  been  tried  they  have  been  abandoned  and 
teachers  have  returned  to  the  use  of  Uniform  Lessons."  However  much 
we  may  regret  this  issue,  and  however  sure  we  may  be  that  "no  question 
is  permanently  settled  until  it  is  settled  right,"  it  is  best  to  recognize 


ORGANIZED. SUNDAY-SCHOOL  WORK  239 

facts  and  put  forth  effort  to  attain  the  attainable.  Of  course,  if  one 
has  a  conviction  that  graded  material,  in  an  adjustment  called  "peda- 
gogical," is  the  only  true  course  of  study  for  a  Sunday  school,  he  ought 
to  urge  it;  and  when  he  brings  home  to  the  comprehension  of  the  aver- 
age Sunday-school  workers  that  their  efficiency  can  really  be  promoted 
by  his  method,  they  will  accept  it. 

Sometime  we  shall  have  a  race  of  pastors  who  can  teach  the  Bible, 
and  train  others  to  become  teachers  of  it.  Not  the  least  of  the  services 
that  organized  Sunday-school  work  is  rendering  is  in  its  approaches, 
through  the  theological  seminaries,  to.  the  ministry  of  tomorrow  and 
the  day  after.  In  the  next  ten  years  these  will  bear  fruit  in  a  way  that 
will  greatly  profit  the  educational  side  of  Sunday-school  work.  Further, 
the  work  of  teacher-training,  to  which  the  Department  of  Education 
is  to  give  special  attention,  is  sure  to  make  rapid  and  continuous  advance. 
The  present  elementary  standards,  by  which  the  trained  teacher 
is  estimated,  are  to  be  speedily  outgrown,  and  higher  ones  will  be  set 
up.  There  are  a  multitude  of  agencies  working  to  this  end,  and,  in 
the  better-trained  teacher,  who  is  on  the  way  in  considerable  numbers, 
we  shall  have  reached  the  solution,  in  larger  part,  of  the  educational 
problems  of  the  Sunday  school. 

My  fairest  hope  is  that  there  may  come,  and  if  so,  it  will  be  most 
largely  through  this  Association,  such  delimitation  of  the  proper  fields 
of  each  of  the  agencies  concerned  in  religious  education,  as  shall  lead 
to  clear  views,  of  general  acceptance,  of  just  what  should  properly  belong 
to  the  Sunday  school  regarded  as  an  educational  institution,  and  then 
such  correlation  as  shall  secure  to  organized  Sunday-school  work,  on 
this  growing  side  of  its  activity,  the  support  of  the  pubHc  school,  college, 
seminary,  church,  and  home. 


DISCUSSION 

SAMUEL  H.  WILLIAMS, 

PRESIDENT    CONNECTICUT   STATE   SUNDAY   SCHOOL    ASSOCIATION,    GLASTONBURY, 

CONNECTICUT 

The  Sunday  school  of  today  is  the  result  of  a  century  of  earnest, 
prayerful  thought  and  persevering  effort.  Occasionally  there  has  been 
some  mighty  step  forward,  as  was  the  adoption  of  the  Uniform  Lesson 
System.  And  we  are  in  the  very  midst  of  another  advance,  which  will 
perhaps  prove  to  be  just  as  much  of  an  epoch-maker  as  was  that.  But 
between  such  notable  steps  we  must  admit  that  there  has  still  been 
progress;  else  such  steps  would  not  be  possible.  There  has  been 
steady  and  constant  progress,  and  the  present  condition  of  the  Sunday 
school  is  better  than  ever  before.  It  may  be  that  other  institutions 
have  made  more  rapid  progress — for  example,  our  public  school 
system.  But  there  are  hundreds  of  country  towns  where  the  public 
schools  are  carried  on  in  a  way  just  as  far  behind  the  times  as  the  Sun- 
day schools  in  those  same  towns.  I  do  not  claim  that  religious  educa- 
tion has  advanced  as  rapidly  as  has  so-called  secular  education,  but 
that  it  is  better  now  than  ever  before.  There  is  one  word  that  to  my 
mind  characterizes  the  present  condition,  namely,  transition.  We 
must  see  to  it  that  out  of  the  tangle  of  doubt  and  uncertainty  and  antici- 
pation in  which  we  are  wandering  we  emerge  on  the  further  side. 

Upon  being  asked  to  take  part  in  this  discussion,  I  wrote  to  a  dozen 
or  more  prominent  Sunday-school  workers,  asking  for  their  opinion 
on  this  subject.  The  replies  have  interested  me  greatly.  As  you 
might  expect,  some  are  hopeful,  some  pessimistic.  As  these  opinions 
come  from  men  of  weight  and  influence,  I  will  take  time  to  bring  some 
of  them  before  you,  as  a  symposium  on  the  present  condition  of  the 
Sunday  school. 

Some  say  the  present  condition  is  discouraging, 

Because  of  the  conservatism  in  the  church,  and  the  fact  that  the  first  available 
teachers  are  secured — though  often  incompetent. 

Because  in  a  transitional  state. 

Worse  than  six  years  ago.  Teachers  do  not  feel  responsibility.  Lack  of 
interest  on  the  part  of  adults. 

Ineffective  because  archaic.     Fraught  with  menacing  problems. 

Operating  under  a  worn-out  system,  and  antiquated  ideas. 

Apathetic  as  to  increased  membership  and  influence. 

Preoccupation  and  indifference  of  parents  and  other  adults. 

240 


DISCUSSION  241 

Others  say  the  prospect  is  encouraging, 

Because  the  Sunday  school  is  the  strong  right  arm  of  the  church,  and  is  on  the 
threshold  of  a  tremendous  forward  movement. 

This  transition  is  to  better  things. 

The  Sunday  school  is  venerable  and  mighty  (like  the  Chinese  empire);  has 
the  elements  of  a  glorious  future. 

Intelligent  progress.  A  better  class  of  men  and  women  becoming  interested. 
Much  training  done  for  Sunday-school  work;  and  efforts  for  better  instruction. 

Hopeful  conditions  as  to  spiritual  hfe  and  efforts;  and  a  transition  as  to  ideas 
and  methods  of  instruction. 

The  condition  is  improving. 

Personally  I  am  an  optimist  (except  possibly  some  stormy  Sunday 
afternoon,  or  some  evening  after  a  feebly  and  wearily  attended  teachers' 
meeting),  and  it  does  me  good  to  get  such  a  statement  as  that  made 
by  one  of  the  prominent  pastors  in  Connecticut,  who  for  many  years 
has  been  the  superintendent  of  his  own  Sunday  school: 

Sunday-school  work  taken  as  a  whole  is  better  done  at  this  time  than  ever 
hitherto,  and  the  general  recognition  of  its  defects  is  due  to  a  rising  ideal. 

I  do  not  believe  there  is  in  the  world  today  another  such  mighty  power 
for  good  as  the  Sunday  school.  It  has  not  lost  its  influence.  I  admit 
that  there  are  great  needs,  and  great  possibilities  of  improvement. 
The  ideal  is  far  beyond  the  present  attainment  of  most  of  our  schools. 
But  I  have  no  patience  with  those  who  cry  down  the  Sunday  school  as 
altogether  behind  the  times,  and  therefore  useless  and  superfluous. 
I  have  not  time  to  discuss  all  the  statements  about  the  present  con- 
dition of  the  Sunday  school.  There  is  much  truth  in  what  is  said  of 
the  apathy  of  parents  and  adult  members  of  the  church.  One  man 
wrote : 

The  adults  of  Christendom  stand  like  swine  with  their  feet  in  the  trough. 
They  do  not  know  it,  but  there  they  are.  The  church  architecture  is  first  for  them; 
the  minister  is  called  to  suit  their  tastes;  the  singers  are  employed  to  charm  them; 
the  hours  of  service  are  allotted  at  their  demands — at  least  three  to  one  for  the  child ; 
and  the  ministrations  to  them  demand  at  least  four-fifths  of  the  budget  appropria- 
tions, the  child  often  being  asked  to  support  his  own  school. 

Surely  there  are  conditions  enough  that  are  discouraging;  we  cannot 
shut  our  eyes  to  them,  and  we  surely  ought  not  if  we  would  help  to 
realize  the  possibilities  of  the  Sunday  school. 

Nor,  on  the  other  hand,  can  we  avoid  seeing,  unless  we  habitually 
wear  blue  glasses,  the  great  good  the  Sunday  school  is  accomplishing 
in  spite  of  its  shortcomings.  Only  this  morning  I  received  a  letter  in 
reply  to  my  inquiries  from  a  man  of  national  reputation  as  a  Sunday- 
school  worker,  whom  you  would  all  know  if  I  should  mention  his 


242  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

name.     He  gives  seven  points  on  the  present  condition  of  the  Sunday 
school  as  showing  his  opinion  of  the  very  hopeful  condition  of  things: 

1.  I  have  not  seen  a  time  since  1889  when  the  Sunday  school  seemed  to  be  in 
as  heahhy  and  forward  a  condition  as  at  present. 

2.  It  is  my  behef,  based  on  observation  and  wide  correspondence,  that  the 
Sunday-school  membership  is  larger  now  than  it  ever  has  been. 

3.  I  believe  there  is  more  interest  manifested  in  the  evangehstic  side  of  the  work 
than  ever  before.  • 

4.  There  is  an  intense  interest  in  the  matter  of  teacher-training. 

5.  More  than  ever  before  is  it  true  that  the  minds  of  educators  have  been 
turned   toward   the   Sunday   school. 

6.  Our  theological  seminaries  and  Christian  schools  are  being  aroused  along 
this  line. 

7.  The  church  itself  is  becoming  aroused  to  the  importance  of  Sunday-school 
work. 

Transition,  as  I  have  said,  is  a  word  that,  more  than  any  other, 
characterizes  the  present  condition  of  the  Sunday  school.  There  is 
a  dissatisfaction  with  what  has  been  accomplished;  a  realization  that 
the  child  needs,  and  is  entitled  to,  the  very  best  in  all  lines ;  that  teachers 
need  the  very  best  training  and  equipment,  as  well  as  the  most  earnest 
devotion  and  feeling  of  responsibility.  There  is  a  reaching  out  after 
better  leading,  better  teaching,  better  co-operation.  And  many  eyes  are 
turned  toward  this  Association  in  the  hope  that  from  here  may  emanate 
the  suggestions,  practical  and  usable,  that  will  help  solve  the  great 
Sunday-school  problems. 


THE  PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  A  GRADED  CURRICULUM 

EDWARD  P.  ST.  JOHN, 

SUPERINTENDENT    NEW   YORK  STATE   SUNDAY  SCHOOL  ASSOCIATION,    PRATTSBURGH, 

NEW   YORK 

The  first  step  toward  the  discovery  of  the  principles  which  should 
guide  in  the  preparation  of  a  graded  Sunday-school  curriculum  is  to 
define  the  end  chat  is  sought  by  Sunday-school  instruction;  the  second 
is  to  ascertain  what  Nature  (that  is,  God)  is  doing  to  further  that  end; 
and  the  third  is  to  consider  the  means  by  which  we  may  give  added 
power  to  these  natural  tendencies. 

Probably  all  who  engage  in  Sunday-school  work  would  agree  that 
its  chief  aim  is  to  form  the  highest  type  of  moral  and  religious  character. 
Accepting  this  definition,  we  have  to  ask  what  Nature  is  doing  toward 
the  attainment  of  this  end;  and  the  answer  is  not  uncertain.  The 
modern  psychologist  declares  that  the  man  who  lacks  the  elements  of 
moral  and  religious  character  is  as  abnormal  as  the  man  who  is  blind. 
This  fact  has  tremendous  significance  for  us.  It  implies  that  if  we 
would  fall  in  line  with  the  forces  that  rule  the  universe,  religion  is  not 
to  be  imposed  upon  human  nature  from  without.  The  process  of 
character-building  cannot  be  regarded  as  mechanical  in  its  nature.  It 
is  not  a  pouring  of  moral  precepts  into  the  empty  receptacle  of  the  child- 
mind.  It  is  not  primarily  a  process  of  pruning  off  undesirable  growths 
by  punishment,  or  of  confining  fluid  impulses  by  a  mold  of  law  until  they 
have  taken  permanent  form  in  habit.  It  is  rather  a  process  of  culture. 
The  instruction  should  appeal  to  the  better  side  of  the  nature,  seeking 
by  proper  nourishment  and  suitable  exercise  to  lead  every  healthy  moral 
and  religious  impulse  to  its  highest  development. 

The  first  principle,  then,  may  be  thus  stated:  Moral  and  religious 
instruction  should  be  chiefly  positive  and  constrtictive  in  its  nature,  and 
must  appeal  to  the  elements  oj  right  character  that  exist  in  the  pupil. 

Accepting  this  principle,  which  requires  that  we  find  our  starting- 
point  for  religious  instruction  in  the  life  of  the  child,  we  find  that,  while 
religion  is  natural  to  the  man,  it  reaches  its  highest  development  only  in 
the  adult.  Certain  regular  stages  in  development,  fairly  uniform  in  the 
majority  of  individuals,  appear.  While  the  young  child  has  the  elements 
of  reUgious  and  ethical  character,  these  at  first  are  germs  only-^-tenden- 
cies  which  may  be  called  moral  or  religious  only  in  view  of  that  to  which 
they  will  normally  give  rise  in  later  stages  of  life.     These  first  hints  of 

243 


244  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

the  higher  life  are  followed  in  the  boy  and  girl  by  other  stages  that  are 
more  advanced,  but  still  immature.  In  adolescence  and  adult  life  still 
higher  forms  appear. 

The  nature  of  the  changes  which  naturally  occur  in  these  various 
stages  of  development  begins  to  be  quite  clearly  indicated  by  studies 
of  childhood  and  adolescence.  We  have  not  been  able  to  find  for  pur- 
poses of  such  study  children  who  have  received  no  religious  teaching; 
but  we  are  beginning  to  discover  what  phases  of  religion  seem  to  appeal 
to  natural  interests  and  to  make  the  deepest  impressions,  thus  becoming 
a  part  of  the  life  of  the  child.  The  characteristics  of  these  stages  stand 
out  somewhat  distinctly,  but  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  periods  are 
telescoped  into  each  other  with  no  clearly  marked  dividing  line. 

Early  childhood,  which  lasts  until  about  eight  years  of  age,  seems 
naturally  to  give  the  child  a  consciousness  of  God  as  back  of  Nature  and 
its  forces — a  conception  of  the  Deity  as  a  great  anthropomorphic  Being 
who  dwells  in  the  distant  heaven,  but  works  His  will  on  earth.  He  it  is 
who  hangs  the  moon  and  stars  in  space,  who  causes  flowers  to  bloom  and 
birds  to  sing.  It  is  for  this  conception  that  the  child  is  feeling  when  he 
asks  who  made  the  river  and  the  trees,  and  who  cares  for  the  squirrels 
in  the  winter.  For  Him  the  child  seems  to  feel  some  really  natural 
reverence,  and  in  His  power  there  seems  to  be  some  natural  faith.  If 
some  degree  of  trust  in  His  love  is  not  natural,  it  is  at  least  very  easily 
acquired.  The  foreshadowing  of  ethical  feeling  we  find  in  the  instinc- 
tive emotional  life  of  a  child,  especially  in  the  various  phases  of  fear  and 
anger,  sympathy  and  love. 

Prepubescence,  from  about  eight  to  twelve  years  of  age,  and  the 
transition  stage  of  adolescence,  seem  to  bring  the  idea  of  God  into  closer 
relation  to  human  life  and  conduct,  and  to  give  the  conception  of  the 
divine  Being  as  a  maker  of  laws  and  prescriber  of  penalties  and  rewards. 
Never  does  mere  authority,  the  "Thou  shalt "  and  "Thou  shalt  not,"  have 
greater  influence  over  the  child.  This  is  a  time  when  egoistic  motives 
predominate  in  both  moral  and  religious  life,  and  when  the  child  responds 
to  the  influence  of  his  superiors  more  readily  than  at  any  other  time. 
Never  are  outward  observances  more  readily  taken  on.  At  first  this 
response  is  imitative  and  formal;  but  after  puberty,  ideals  play  a  larger 
part,  and  character  as  well  as  conduct  brings  its  lessons  and  its  stimulus. 

As  the  youth  approaches  the  middle  stage  of  adolescence,  at  about 
sixteen  years  of  age,  his  idea  of  religion  becomes  still  more  definite 
and  personal.  Now  he  feels  not  merely  a  desire  to  escape  penalty, 
but  the  necessity  of  a  right  relation  between  himself  and  God.  Con- 
sciousness of  a  lack  of  harmonv  between  his  life  and  his  ideals  is  forced 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  A  GRADED  CURRICULUM    245 

upon  him.  There  is  often  the  struggle  and  stress  of  a  violent  conversion 
experience  with  a  sense  of  victory  for  the  better  self.  Sometimes,  but 
apparently  less  frequently,  the  same  sense  of  the  attainment  of  a  right 
relation  to  God  and  to  goodness  is  reached  by  a  gradual  process  of 
growth.  Between  these  extremes  is  every  gradation  of  experience.  This 
is  the  most  intensely  personal  phase  of  religious  experience,  and  unless 
it  is  attained  the  religious  development  is  certainly  immature.  At  this 
time  altruism  strongly  stirs  the  heart  of  the  youth,  and  genuine  ethical 
feeling  should  become  a  dominant  force  in  character. 

But,  for  the  educated  or  naturally  thoughtful  man,  the  end  is  not 
yet.  In  later  adolescence,  noticeably  from  about  the  eighteenth  year 
to  the  end  of  the  period,  the  religious  consciousness  shifts  its  center 
from  the  emotional  to  the  intellectual  life.  The  vague  and  impulsive 
altruism  of  middle  adolescence  is  followed  by  the  effort  to  establish  sane 
and  definite  standards  for  a  great  variety  of  social  relations.  The 
exuberant  idealism  of  the  earlier  period  gives  place  to  the  unconscious 
effort  to  construct  a  sound  philosophy  of  life.  No  longer  can  the 
thoughtful  man  or  woman  with  the  broader  social  sympathies  of  this 
period  be  contented  with  a  religion  which  satisfies  only  the  needs  of  his 
own  heart;  there  is  realization  of  a  brotherhood  of  man  to  which  the 
Divine  Fatherhood  must  bear  some  relation.  He  traces  backward  the 
course  of  his  rehgious  development  thus  far,  but  reason,  not  suggestion 
or  tradition,  interprets  what  he  sees.  His  God  must  be  a  God  of  law, 
and  the  laws  must  be  of  universal  application.  Again,  he  seeks  to  find 
Him  back  of  Nature — not  in  the  remote  Heaven,  but  in  some  sort  of 
immanent  presence.  Religion  must  walk  hand  in  hand  with  science,  or 
there  must  be  a  parting  of  the  ways. 

This  phase  of  religious  experience,  which  Professor  Coe  has  so 
well  described  and  so  wisely  guided  in  his  Religion  of  a  Mature  Mind, 
seems  to  me  to  be  distinctly  characteristic  of  later  adolescence,  though 
it  is  probable  that  the  soul  which  struggles  unaided  through  this  recon- 
struction period  does  not  usually  find  its  quest  before  maturity  is  well 
begun.  Whether  middle  life  and  old  age  add  higher  levels  to  religious 
experience,  or  rather  mark  the  beginning  of  decay,  we  hardly  have  the 
data  to  determine  now. 

These  four  stages  contribute  distinct  elements  to  religion,  no  one  of 
which  can  well  be  spared,  and  no  one  of  which  can  be  so  well  taught 
at  any  other  period  of  life.  And  yet  how  completely  we  have  neglected 
their  logical  sequence  and  their  practical  value.  Almost  the  whole 
Christian  church  ignores  the  first;  but  woe  to  the  Christian  who  today 
has  no  other  foundation  for  his  faith  than  a  book — even  though  that 


246  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

book  be  the  Bible.  Large  sections  of  the  church — those  that  make 
instruction  the  only  or  chief  condition  of  church  membership — as  organi- 
zations make  their  appeal  chiefly  to  the  characteristics  of  the  second 
stage:  but,  after  the  development  of  personality  which  adolescence 
brings,  the  life  that  is  controlled  by  mere  external  authority  is  not  likely 
to  be  either  a  happy  or  a  useful  one.  The  majority  of  the  evangelical 
bodies  touch  the  second  lightly,  place  the  strong  emphasis  upon  the 
third  and  either  totally  ignore  the  last  or  regard  it  as  an  evidence  of 
religious  degeneration — vi^ith  the  result  that  many  who  have  had  the 
genuine  conversion  experience  lose  their  faith  and  the  vitality  of  moral 
character  before  manhood  is  really  begun.  Some  of  the  liberal  churches 
attempt  to  jump  the  children  from  the  first  stage  to  the  fourth,  with  the 
result,  that  in  spite  of  their  splendid  literature,  the  high  intellectual 
qualifications  of  teachers,  and  the  emphasis  placed  upon  their  Sunday- 
school  work,  they  lose  many  of  their  own  children  and  in  the  face  of 
considerable  adult  accessions  from  the  evangelical  bodies  are  unable  to 
keep  their  numbers  good. 

Not  only  should  we  plan  to  lead  the  Sunday-school  pupil  through 
these  stages  of  religious  development,  but  we  should  realize  that  unless 
each  is  passed  at  these  times  and  in  this  order,  the  higher  stages  are  not 
likely  to  be  attained  at  all.  Not  only  must  we  provide  for  the  lower 
stages,  but  to  avoid  arrest  in  development  we  must  provide  at  the  proper 
time  such  conditions  as  will  further  the  transition  to  the  higher  ones. 
The  boy  who  is  not  taught  to  reverence  and  obey  ethical  laws  at  ten 
years  of  age  may  easily  regard  them  as  of  only  philosophical  importance 
when  manhood  is  reached.  Let  adolescence  pass  without  the  conver- 
sion experience  and  it  is  rarely  attained  in  later  life.  Fail  to  add  the 
intellectual  elements  to  religion  at  the  period  of  questioning,  and  doubt 
in  later  adolescence  and  arrest  or  perversion  is  the  almost  certain  result. 

The  principle  which  these  facts  reveal  is:  Religious  instruction,  ij  it 
is  to  be  effective,  must  recognize  certain  nascent  stages  in  religious  develop- 
ment, and  must  make  use  of  the  special  opportunities  which  they  afford. 

Studying  in  greater  detail  the  development  of  the  moral  and  religious 
consciousness,  the  student  is  impressed  with  the  fact  that  religious 
feeling  is  a  very  complex  form  of  emotion.  He  sees  that  character  is  the 
result  of  interplay  of  intellect,  emotion,  and  will.  The  stages  in  religious 
and  moral  development  appear  as  phases  of  similar  changes  in  the  whole 
life  of  the  growing  man.  Life  is  a  unit.  In  its  fabric  every  strand  of 
human  thought  and  passion,  aspiration  and  attainment,  is  intertwined 
as  warp  and  woof.  What  is  not  added  thus  to  character  is  mere  embroid- 
ery at  best,  and  contributes  little  to  its  strength. 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  A  GRADED  CURRICULUM    247 

It  seems  to  me  that  one  of  the  most  unfortunate  conditions  of  our 
plans  for  rehgious  instruction  in  the  past  has  been  that  it  has  been  given 
chiefly  at  certain  hours  of  only  one  day  of  the  week,  in  a  special  building, 
from  one  particular  book,  and  for  the  most  part  by  one  man  who  wears 
a  black  suit  of  peculiar  pattern  when  he  gives  it.  Fully  recognizing  the 
advantage  of  all  this  specialization,  one  still  wonders  if  it  would  be  pos- 
sible more  effectually  to  isolate  religion  from  everything  else  in  life. 
The  settlement  and  the  institutional  church  are  efforts  to  broaden  the 
appeal:  what  they  do  for  the  adult,  and  more,  the  Sunday-school  should 
do  for  the  child.  Life  is  many-sided,  and  religious  instruction  must  make 
its  appeal  to  its  every  aspect  and  interest.  Until  religion  is  so  presented 
it  can  never  assume  in  the  life  of  the  average  man  the  commanding  place 
that  belongs  to  it. 

Our  failure  in  this  respect  is  as  apparent  as  it  is  unfortunate. 
Of  greater  educational  value  than  any  pedagogical  device  of  man  is 
simple  natural  play,  and  the  Christian  church  has  never  turned  serious 
thought  to  it  except  for  some  slight  measures  of  repression.  Here  is 
opportunity  for  effective  broadening  of  religious  education  at  the  early 
part  of  the  course. 

When  we  desire  to  teach  a  young  child  religion,  we  commonly  try 
to  lead  him  in  thought  into  a  strange,  far-away  country — the  world  of 
Bible  history — where  there  were  strange  people  whom  he  never  saw, 
where  there  were  strange  customs  that  he  does  not  understand,  where 
strange  things  happened  that  do  not  happen  today ;  and  we  give  him  his 
thought  of  God  chiefly  in  relation  to  that  unfamiliar  and  comparatively 
unreal  world!  Rather  let  us  help  him  to  see  God  in  the  world  of  birds 
and  flowers,  clouds  and  stars,  in  which  he  lives.  The  child  in  the  kinder- 
garten class  is  not  able  to  read  the  Bible;  but  the  picture-book  of  nature 
is  open  before  him,  and  a  new  leaf  is  turned  with  every  hour.  For  our 
youngest  pupils  the  Bible  stories  have  their  value,  but  only  as  they 
interpret  and  are  interpreted  by  the  child's  life  of  today. 

In  the  young  men's  class  we  may  introduce  a  course  on  the  social 
teachings  of  Jesus  vsdth  application  to  the  relations  of  employer  and 
employed,  to  the  questions  of  national  policy,  and  of  practical  politics 
in  the  local  community.  Not  only  will  we  keep  the  young  men  in  the 
school,  but  after  such  a  course  of  study  they  will  find  it  more  difficult  to 
develop  that  comfortable  and  too  common  type  of  religion  which  does 
not  interfere  with  a  man's  business  or  his  politics.  The  principle  is: 
Moral  and  religious  instruction  should  be  correlated  with  the  changing 
dominant  interests  and  activities  of  life. 

These,  it  seems  to  me,  are  some  of  the  fundamental  principles  which 


248  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

are  suggested  by  the  study  of  the  progressive  reHgious  development 
of  the  child.  And  possibly  these  are  all  that  are  really  essential.  It 
may  be  urged  that  instruction  must  be  adapted  to  the  child's  interests 
and  to  his  powers  of  comprehension,  but  this  is  provided  for  if  the  last 
principle  is  accepted.  Life  is  a  unit,  and  so  intimately  are  all  its 
phases  related  that  if  we  do  at  any  stage  adapt  our  instruction  to  the 
religious  development,  which  is  the  essential  thing,  it  will  perforce 
appeal  to  the  spontaneous  interests  and  be  within  the  grasp  of  the  intel- 
lectual powers.  We  may  search  for  other  principles  which  condition  our 
work  in  the  nature  of  the  means  by  which  we  seek  to  aid  this  natural 
course  of  development.  The  two  chief  agencies  are  the  Bible,  our  prin- 
cipal text-book  of  rehgion  and  morals,  and  the  living  teacher,  whose 
personality  is  perhaps  an  equally  important  factor.  Since  the  Bible 
is  a  record  of  racial  religious  development  which  closely  parallels 
that  of  the  child  of  today,  and  since  the  most  essential  training  of  the 
Sunday-school  teacher  is  the  attainment  of  the  highest  religious  experi- 
ence, of  familiarity  with  the  Bible,  and  of  knowledge  of  the  way  in  which 
the  child's  nature  unfolds,  we  may  expect  that  nothing  contradictory  to 
what  is  already  discovered  will  here  appear. 

This  ideal  for  religious  education  does  not  forget  God  or  minimize 
the  power  or  part  of  His  Spirit  in  the  shaping  of  religious  character. 
It  does  not  urge  salvation  without  regeneration,  but  holds  that  the  second 
birth  is  the  birthright  of  every  child  in  our  Sunday  schools,  and  that 
if  he  does  not  experience  it  in  a  psychological  as  well  as  theological  sense 
before  adolescence  is  past,  the  fault  is  ours  rather  than  God's  or  the 
child's.  To  the  Christian  the  laws  of  nature  are  the  thoughts  of  God; 
and  revelation  says  that  it  is  not  the  will  of  our  Father  in  Heaven  that 
one  of  these  little  ones  should  perish. 

I  believe  that  the  gradation  of  our  Sunday-school  instruction  on  the 
basis  of  the  result  of  scientific  investigation  means  simply  doing  God's 
work  in  God's  way,  and  that  when  it  is  accomplished  our  Sunday- 
school  teachers  will  be  colaborers  with  Him  in  a  larger  sense. 


PROFESSOR  ERNEST  D.  BURTON,  D.D., 

THE  UNIVERSITY   OF   CHICAGO,   CHICAGO 

Since  the  attempt  to  distinguish  sharply  between  the  principles  that 
require  or  justify  the  grading  of  the  curriculum,  and  those  which  deter- 
mine how  the  graded  curriculum  should  be  constructed,  would  involve 
an  embarrassing  drawing  of  fine  distinctions,  I  have  taken  the  liberty 
of  understanding  the  topic  as  including  the  principles  that  justify  the 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  A  GRADED  CURRICULUM    249 

establishment  of  a  graded  curriculum  and  those  that  fix  the  main  lines 
on  which  it  should  be  constructed. 

1.  The  advantage  and  well-being  of  the  pupil  are  the  ends  to  be 
sought  in  all  the  work  of  the  school,  and  so  in  the  curriculum.  There 
is  some  danger  that  in  our  emphasis  upon  the  proper  point  of  view  in 
Biblical  study,  and  on  the  principles  of  psychology  and  pedagogy  as 
necessarily  controlling  the  construction  of  the  curriculum,  we  shall  forget 
that  all  these  things  are  of  value  to  the  Sunday  school  only  as  they  pro- 
mote the  welfare  of  the  child.  Pedagogy  has  no  interests  of  its  own. 
The  Bible  requires  no  service.  Psychology  is  for  man,  not  man  for 
psychology.     The  Book  is  for  the  child,  not  the  child  for  the  Book. 

2.  The  moral  and  religious  well-being  of  the  pupil  is  the  specific 
aim  of  the  Sunday  school  and  of  the  curriculum.  The  school  of  tech- 
nology exists  also  for  the  benefit  of  the  pupil;  but  not  specifically  and 
directly  for  his  moral  and  religious  well-being.  The  Sunday  school  is  a 
religious  institution — it  seeks  a  moral  and  religious  end.  And  what  is 
true  of  the  school  as  such  is  true  of  its  curriculum. 

3.  The  curriculum  should  be  based  upon  a  sound  psychology,  and 
in  particular  should  recognize  and  avail  itself  of  all  well-attested  results 
of  the  study  of  the  development  of  the  human  mind  from  childhood  to 
youth  and  manhood.  Previous  speakers  have  sufficiently  described  this 
development. 

4.  The  Bible  should  be  the  chief  subject  of  study.  The  tradition 
which  has  made  the  Sunday  school  in  large  part  a  Bible  school  rests 
upon  a  sound  basis.  Christianity  has  its  roots,  historically,  in  the 
Bible;  and  in  no  small  measure  experientially  also.  The  instinct  of  the 
church  has  been  wholly  right  in  giving  to  the  Bible  the  central  place  in 
its  school.  The  betterment  of  the  Sunday  school  will  not  come  through 
deposing  the  Bible  from  that  place.  But  that  it  should  be  the  sole  text- 
book is  more  than  can  be  rightly  claimed.  To  insist  that  the  pupil  in 
the  kindergarten  shall  be  taught  solely  from  the  Bible  is  to  violate  the 
principles  already  laid  down,  disregarding  the  laws  of  psychology,  and 
making  the  child  for  the  Bible  instead  of  the  Bible  for  the  child. 
To  exclude  from  the  adult  division  of  the  school  courses  in  mission.'-, 
church  history,  applied  ethics,  and  the  like,  on  the  ground  that  the 
Sunday  school  is  a  Bible  school,  is  to  fall  into  the  same  error.  The 
Bible  should  have  the  central  place  in  the  curriculum  of  the  Sunday 
school;  but  it  should  hold  that  place  by  virtue  of  what  it  is  and  what  it 
can  do,  not  on  the  basis  of  any  a  priori  opinions. 

5.  The  curriculum  should  be  based  on  a  sound  and  true  view  of  the 
Bible.     The  construction  of  a  curriculum  does  not  presuppose  a  knowl- 


2S0  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

edge  of  all  the  teachings  of  the  Bible,  but  it  is  demanded  that  those  who 
are  to  arrange  the  curriculum  shall  have  as  a  prerequisite  to  the  per- 
formance of  their  work  a  knowledge  of  the  contents  of  the  several  parts 
of  the  Bible,  and  a  sound  view  of  what  the  Bible  is.  Indeed,  it  is  only 
upon  the  basis  of  some  view  of  the  Bible  as  a  whole  that  one  can  make 
intelHgent  choice  between  the  graded  and  the  ungraded  curricula.  And 
the  matter  becomes  still  more  important  when,  having  determined  that 
the  curriculum  is  to  be  graded,  one  seeks  to  lay  down  the  principles  that 
are  to  guide  in  its  construction. 

But  what  is  that  sound  and  true  view  of  the  Bible  which  should  under- 
lie the  curriculum  ?    Three  views  may  be  considered  here: 

First,  the  Bible  may  be  held  to  be  substantially  homogeneous  through- 
out, every  part  able  to  yield  moral  and  religious  precepts  or  theological 
propositions,  which  can  be  directly  culled  from  it  or  gained  by  a  species 
of  allegorical  interpretation — a  loaf  of  bread,  to  use  a  favorite  metaphor 
of  those  who  hold  this  view — sweet  and  good,  and  of  about  uniform 
quality  through  crust  and  crumb.  One  who  holds  this  view  of  Scripture 
is  not  likely  to  favor  a  graded  curriculum  at  all.  The  advantages  of 
uniformity — with  its  necessary  consequence,  the  ungraded  curriculum — 
will  outweigh  for  him  any  betterments  to  be  secured  by  a  graded  cur- 
riculum with  its  different  subject  of  study  for  the  pupils  of  each  grade. 

Secondly,  the  Bible  may  be  held  to  be  a  collection  of  maxims,  stories 
with  morals,  essays,  and  the  like,  varying  in  respect  to  the  degree  of 
intelligence  or  maturity  of  mind  necessary  for  the  understanding  of 
them,  yet  each  valuable  for  the  lesson  which  it  conveys,  taken  by  itself 
and  independent  of  its  relation  to  the  whole  or  its  place  in  a  process  of 
historical  development.  If  one  hold  this  view  of  Scripture,  it  may  lead 
him  to  the  adoption  of  a  curriculum  so  graded  that  the  several  grades  and 
classes  of  pupils  shall  study  those  portions  of  Scripture,  be  they  stories, 
psalms,  essays,  letters,  visions,  which  contain  or  will  yield  those  maxims 
that  are  adapted  to  the  stage  of  development  which  the  pupils  in  the 
respective  grades  have  severally  reached. 

Thirdly,  the  Bible  may  be  regarded  as  a  collection  of  the  literary 
records  of  a  most  significant  religious  movement — sources  for  ascertain- 
ing the  history  of  the  most  significant  religious  experience  of  which 
human  history  affords  a  record,  a  religious  experience  not  of  a  man  but 
of  a  nation,  centuries  long,  rooted  in  soil  of  an  almost  unknown  antiquity 
finding  its  mountain  peak  in  the  life  and  teachings  of  Him  who  remains 
for  us  today  after  all  the  centuries  the  Prince  of  reHgious  teachers,  the 
Ideal  of  humanity,  the  matchless  and  unsullied  Revelation  of  the 
Heavenly  Father.     To  one  who  takes  this  view  of  the  Bible  it  will  follow, 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  A  GRADED  CURRICULUM    251 

not  simply  that  the  curriculum  of  the  Sunday  school  shall  be  graded  in 
order  to  assign  the  easier  parts  of  the  Bible  to  the  younger  children,  the 
more  difficult  parts  to  the  more  mature  pupils,  but  that  the  whole 
curriculum  shall  be  so  constructed  as  to  lead  up  to  the  fullest  appre- 
hension possible  of  that  truth  which  is  taught  by  the  Bible,  taken  as  a 
whole,  and  viewed  as  the  history  of  God's  self-disclosure  to  that  nation 
to  whom  and  through  whom,  in  the  person  of  its  prophets,  apostles,  and 
Messiah,  God  has  disclosed  Himself  more  fully  than  to  any  other 
nation  since  the  world  began. 

Let  it  be  recognized  and  at  once  confessed  that  there  is  an  element 
of  truth  in  both  the  first  and  second  of  these  views,  especially  in  the 
second,  and  that  this  too  is  an  element  important  to  be  considered  in 
the  construction  of  the  curriculum  of  the  Sunday  school.  The  Bible 
does  contain  many  beautiful  stories,  adapted  by  their  beauty  and  inter- 
est to  attract  the  child,  and  by  the  truth  which  they  suggest  to  convey  to 
him  needed  moral  lessons.  It  does  contain  beautiful  psalms,  instructive 
maxims,  impressive  aphorisms,  which  lodged  in  his  mind  in  youth,  when 
memory  is  receptive  and  retentive,  will  help  now  to  shape  the  still  plastic 
character,  and  in  coming  years  will  reveal  more  and  more  of  their  mean- 
ing and  truth.  The  Bible  does  contain  essays  and  letters,  sermons  and 
visions,  of  varying  degrees  of  difficulty  of  interpretation,  and  capable 
perhaps  of  being  arranged  in  an  ascending  scale,  from  the  easiest  to  the 
most  difficult,  from  the  simplest  to  the  most  profound. 

But  neither  the  first  nor  even  the  second  view  tells  the  whole  truth 
about  the  Bible.  Both  overlook  that  fact  of  tremendous  significance 
to  which  the  third  attempts  to  give  due  recognition.  Time  fails  me  to 
put  forth  here  any  adequate  defense  of  it.  I  must  be  content  with 
announcing  my  own  adherence  to  it,  with  affirming  what  I  believe  most 
of  those  present  will  assent  to,  that  all  the  recent  progress  of  Biblical 
study  has  made  it  increasingly  clearer  that  the  Bible  yields  its  deepest 
and  most  surely  attested  message  to  humanity  only  by  a  thoroughgoing 
historical  study  of  it — a  study  which  seeks  to  read  in  this  transcendently 
significant  record  of  religious  experience  the  long  sentence  of  divine 
thought  that  is  written  in  the  successive  centuries  of  the  history  of  the 
nation  of  Jesus  the  Christ.  The  Bible  contains  the  materials  for  ascer- 
taining the  history  of  that  experience,  in  which,  step  by  step  through 
centuries  the  great  truths  of  morals  and  religion  were  disclosed  to  the 
minds  of  men  capable  of  receiving  them.  If  we  would  use  this  body  of 
literature  for  its  highest  educational  value,  if  we  would  make  it  in  the 
highest  degree  instrumental  in  the  moral  and  religious  development 
of  the  child,  we  must  teach  him  the  lessons  of  this  great  history  of  divine 
revelation. 


252  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

The  modern  historian,  whether  he  deal  with  the  history  of  Rome  or 
France  or  England,  is  not  content  merely  to  be  a  chronicler  of  events, 
or  iEsop-like  to  find  in  the  successive  occurrences  of  history  a  haec 
jabula  docet.  His  task  is  to  discover  the  meaning  of  that  whole  sweep  of 
history  with  which  he  deals.  Facts  he  must  have,  and  facts  in  their 
order.  Imagination  he  must  have,  not  to  invent  facts,  but  to  conceive 
them  vividly.  But  beyond  this  he  must  have  insight,  the  power  of  his- 
torical interpretation,  the  gift  to  discover  in  facts,  set  in  relation,  the  truth 
that  is  greater  than  all  facts.  It  is  in  this  large  historical  spirit  that  we 
must  learn  to  deal  with  the  Bible.  It  is  these  great  truths  that  underlie 
and  shine  through  Biblical  history  that  we  must  aim  to  convey  through 
our  teaching  of  the  Bible. 

Accepting  then,  the  element  of  truth  that  is  contained  in  each  of 
these  three  views  of  the  Scripture,  and  especially  holding  fast  that  which 
is  contained  in  the  third  view,  what  further  principles  can  we  lay  down 
to  guide  us  in  the  construction  of  the  curriculum  of  the  Sunday  school  ? 

6.  The  center  of  gravity  of  the  curriculum  intellectually  should  be 
in  the  discovery,  through  historical  study,  of  those  central  truths  which 
are  taught  by  the  Bible,  viewed  as  the  record  of  religious  experience 
and  of  a  process  of  revelation  of  religious  truth.  When  I  say  that  this 
should  be  its  center  of  gravity,  I  mean  that  the  earlier  years  of  the  cur- 
riculum should  lead  up  to  a  course  in  Biblical  history,  in  which  the  pupil 
should  gain  some  true,  even  if  imperfect,  conception  of  the  historic 
process  of  disclosure  and  discovery  of  truth,  of  which  the  Bible  contains 
the  record,  and  that  the  subsequent  courses  should  tend  further  to 
expUcate  and  illuminate  this  great  historic  movement.  Such  a  course 
in  Biblical  history  would  necessarily  deal  with  events;  yet  even  more 
with  the  history  of  ideas,  and  with  events  chiefly  as  expressing  or  illus- 
trating ideas. 

7.  The  whole  curriculum  should  be  pervaded  with  the  interpretative 
spirit.  The  Bible  is  literature,  much  of  it  literature  noteworthy  for  its 
beauty,  all  of  it  susceptible  of  interesting  study  purely  from  the  point  of 
view  of  literary  form.  But  the  primary  purpose  of  literature — this  is  at 
least  true  of  the  literature  of  the  Bible — is  to  convey  thought.  And 
literature  yields  its  thought  only  to  the  interpreter.  Biblical  history 
may  be  ascertained  from  the  literature  of  the  Bible,  but  only  by  a  pro- 
cess of  interpretation.  The  Bible  is  full  of  truth — profound,  inspiring, 
saving;  but  that  truth  can  be  extracted  from  the  words  only  by  inter- 
pretation. For  formal  instruction  in  the  principles  of  interpretation 
there  may  be  no  place  in  the  Sunday-school  curriculum.  But  the  inter- 
pretative spirit  and  point  of  view  should  pervade  the  whole;  and  the 


PRINCIPLES  UNDERLYING  A  GRADED  CURRICULUM    253 

sooner  the  pupil  whose  mind  is  sufficiently  mature  to  be  able  to  do  so 
acquires  the  habit  of  approaching  every  passage  or  book  he  takes  up  for 
study,  with  the  question,  What  does  this  mean  ?  the  sooner  he  will  have 
acquired  the  right  mental  attitude  toward  the  literature  of  the  Bible. 

8.  The  curriculum  should  somewhere  furnish  the  pupil  with  a 
general  survey  of  the  Bible  as  a  whole,  given  him  from  such  a  point 
of  view  as  to  \eave  him  with  as  true  a  notion  of  the  character  of  the  Bibli- 
cal books,  and  of  the  nature  of  the  collection  as  a  whole,  as  he  is  capable 
of  grasping  at  this  period  of  his  study.  This  course  should  be  intro- 
duced as  early  as  the  pupil  is  really  capable  of  pursuing  it  intelligently, 
that  he  may  have  the  benefit  of  it  in  his  future  study. 

But  these  principles  which  are  demanded  by  the  truth  contained  in 
the  third  view  of  Scripture  must  not  be  allowed  to  exclude  regard  for 
that  element  of  truth  which  lies  in  the  others.  Nor  must  we  so  do 
violence  to  the  facts  of  psychology  as  to  undertake  to  make  the  whole 
curriculum  either  formally  historical  or  formally  interpretative.  We 
must  therefore  add  another  principle. 

9.  The  curriculum  must  avail  itself  of  the  fact  that  the  Bible  contains 
many  pieces  of  literature,  which  in  themselves  are  capable  both  of  being 
made  attractive  to  the  child  and  of  being  employed  as  the  media  for 
conveying  religious  instruction  adapted  to  his  stage  of  development. 
There  are  short  stories  which  can  be  told  as  detached  units;  there  are 
longer  biographic  narratives,  fitted  to  interest  and  instruct  children  not 
yet  prepared  for  broader-horizoned  historical  study;  there  are  com- 
mandments, and  parables,  and  psalms;  there  are  shining  sentences  of 
religious  truth,  and  shining  examples  of  noble  character.  Many  of 
these  stories,  and  commandments,  and  psalms  can  be  stored  in  the 
memory  of  the  child,  not  as  mere  words  conveying  no  meaning,  but  as 
beautiful  caskets,  attractive  now  for  what  discloses  itself  to  his  youth- 
ful mind,  destined  to  become  more  attractive  and  more  serviceable 
when  in  later  years  they  yield  to  maturer  thought  their  inner  contents. 
Of  these  elements  of  the  Bible  the  curriculum-maker  must  avail  himself 
for  the  construction  especially  of  the  earlier  years  of  the  curriculum, 
using  them  at  the  same  time  for  the  immediate  religious  instruction  of 
the  child  and  storing  them  up  for  future  use  in  the  historical  work  which 
is  to  form  the  central  point  of  the  curriculum. 

The  actual  construction  of  a  graded  curriculum  for  the  Sunday  school 
is  a  task  that  can  be  successfully  accomplished  only  by  co-operation  of 
scholars  and  workers  in  different  fields  of  knowledge  and  effort,  or  by 
the  labors  of  persons  whose  knowledge  and  experience  cover  several 
fields  not  often  covered  by  one  person.     The  Biblical  scholar  must 


254  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

bring  his  broadest  and  most  intelligent  view  of  what  the  Bible  contains 
and  what  it  is.  The  psychologist  must  bring  his  knowledge  of  the  child 
and  of'  the  process  of  tlie  development  of  his  intellectual  powers  and  his 
religious  nature.  The  intelligent  Sunday-school  teacher  must  bring 
his  practical  experience.  Then  all  these  must  be  fused  together  to  fur- 
nish the  curriculum-maker  the  wisdom  that  he  needs.  It  is  not  a  task 
to  be  accomplished  in  a  day.  With  the  best  wisdom  we  possess  we  must 
frame  provisional  plans.  Experience  must  test,  correct,  and  revise 
these,  till  little  by  httle  we  find  our  way  to  a  curriculum  that  will  be 
serviceable  for  the  end  we  seek,  the  highest  well-being  of  the  pupil  as  a 
moral  and  religious  being.  We  are  as  yet  only  on  the  threshold  of  our 
task. 


THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  TEACHER 

PROFESSOR  GEORGE  W.  PEASE, 

THE  HARTFORD  SCHOOL  OF  RELIGIOUS  PEDAGOGY,  HARTFORD,  CONNECTICUT 

That  the  Bible  school  has  been  for  many  years  and  is  today  one  of 
the  great  moral  forces  at  work  in  this  country  is  a  fact  recognized  and 
acknowledged  by  every  unprejudiced  student  of  our  national  life.  That 
it  is  such  a  force  is  due  to  the  unselfish  devotion  of  its  thousands  of  volun- 
teer workers,  and  especially  to  the  consecrated  energy  of  the  teachers 
who  have  labored  on,  year  after  year,  without  adequate  equipment 
for  their  difficult  task,  with  insufficient  means,  and  in  many  cases  not 
only  without  any  encouragement,  but  in  the  face  of  indifference,  ridicule, 
and  harsh  criticism.  When  we  consider  the  limitations  under  which 
the  Bible-school  teacher  works,  the  limitations  of  time,  of  educational 
means,  and  of  personal  professional  equipment,  we  can  only  exclaim  in 
wonder  at  what  has  been  accomplished. 

But  the  time  has  come  for  a  distinct  advance  in  the  sphere  of  moral 
and  religious  education.  The  almost  complete  exclusion  of  moral  and 
religious  instruction  from  our  public  schools,  and  the  recognized  inade- 
quacy of  such  instruction  given  in  those  institutions  organized  for  the 
purpose,  together  with  a  growing  sense  of  its  importance,  have  aroused 
a  widespread  desire,  which  is  rapidly  growing  into  an  insistent  demand, 
for  a  definite  recognition  of  the  high  place  that  moral  and  religious 
instruction  should  occupy  in  any  educational  system,  and  for  the 
improvement  of  all  existing  agencies  which  attempt  to  do  this  work.  The 
Bible  school,  one  of  the  most  important  of  these  agencies  for  moral  and 
religious  education,  must  share  in  this  advance  and  must  meet  this 
demand  for  the  improvement  of  its  work.  And  as  the  teacher  is  the 
most  important  factor  in  the  school,  the  improvement  of  the  teacher 
must  be  the  first  care. 

The  church,  in  organizing  the  Bible  school,  and  inviting  all,  young 
and  old,  to  enter  upon  its  courses  of  instruction,  has  assumed  a  certain 
responsibility  toward  those  who  become  members  of  the  school.  Such 
a  course  puts  the  church  under  obligation  to  provide  suitable  accommo- 
dations and  adequate  educational  means  for  the  work  of  the  school,  and 
to  give  to  the  teachers  who  volunteer  to  undertake  the  difl&cult  task  of 
instruction  some  professional  equipment  for  their  office.  Strange  to 
say,  although  the  church  has  long  recognized  the  value  and  need  of 

255 


2S6  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

careful  and  extended  training  for  those  who  are  to  instruct  from  the  pulpit, 
it  is  only  in  very  recent  years  and  in  isolated  cases  that  it  has  recognized 
the  need  of  any  such  training  on  the  part  of  those  who  are  to  instruct 
from  the  teacher's  chair.  But  if  such  training  is  considered  essential 
for  the  preacher,  who  deals  largely  with  the  adult  mind,  already  formed 
and  more  or  less  hardened  and  unreceptive,  is  not  some  training  equally 
essential  for  the  teacher,  who  deals  largely  with  the  young  mind,  the 
unformed,  plastic,  growing,  receptive  mind  ?  The  church  has  almost 
wholly  failed  to  meet  this  obligation,  and  the  first  step  in  the  improve- 
ment of  the  teacher  must  be  to  arouse  the  church  to  a  sense  of  its  respon- 
sibility in  this  matter,  in  the  hope  that  as  a  result  of  a  deepened  sense 
of  responsibility  means  may  be  provided  for  the  fulfilment  of  its  obliga- 
tion to  furnish  to  the  teacher  an  adequate  professional  equipment  for 
his  work.  In  creating  such  a  sense  of  responsibility  and  obligation,  this 
Religious  Education  Association,  and  especially  the  Teacher  Training 
and  Sunday  School  Departments,  can  do  much. 

Granting  the  need  of  such  training  and  the  church's  obligation  to 
furnish  it,  the  question  arises.  What  is  the  equipment  needed  by  the 
Bible-school  teacher?  It  seems  to  me  that  this  equipment  is  three- 
fold: high  and  definite  ideals,  clear  insight,  and  a  developed  individu- 
ality. 

Ideals,  consciously  held,  determine  life  in  its  various  phases.  The 
comparative  meagerness  of  the  results  from  Bible-school  teaching  is 
partly  due,  in  my  judgment,  to  the  lack  on  the  part  of  the  teacher  of 
definite  ideals,  clearly  seen  and  persistently  pursued.  Ideals  inspire  to 
action.  Having  a  definite  aim  stimulates  us  to  put  forth  every  effort 
to  realize  that  aim.  Further,  definite  ideals  secure  that  concentration 
of  energy  which  is  essential  to  the  highest  success.  Much  of  the  teacher's 
effort  is  wasted  because  it  is  not  directed  to  the  accompHshment  of  any 
definite  purpose.  But  more  than  this,  definite  ideals  will  help  to  arouse 
that  co-operation  on  the  part  of  the  pupil  which  is  so  necessary  in 
the  teaching  process.  No  teacher  can  expect  to  secure  the  hearty 
co-operation  of  his  class  in  all  that  pertains  to  the  work  of  the  school 
unless  he  can  hold  up  before  its  members  ideals  which  shall  appeal  to 
their  interest  and  their  reason. 

In  the  second  place,  the  teacher  needs  clear  insight  into  all  that  per- 
tains to  his  work.  He  must  have  an  insight  into  the  nature  of  the  pupil 
with  whom  he  is  to  deal.  He  must  have  an  insight  into  the  interests, 
the  mental  powers,  the  capacities,  and  the  needs  of  the  pupil  at  various 
periods  of  his  life,  and  of  the  order  and  relative  prominence  of  mental 
phenomena  as  they  manifest  themselves  in  the  growing  mind,  that  he 


THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  TEACHER  257 

may  wisely  choose  the  best  means  and  skilfully  adapt  the  best  methods 
to  aid  nature  in  producing  a  well-rounded,  fully  developed,  winsome 
character.  Within  the  last  years  students  of  genetic  psychology  and 
child-study  have  been  able  to  throw  light  upon  many  of  the  obscure 
problems  of  mind-growth.  The  results  of  their  researches,  now  acces- 
sible to  all,  should  be  presented  to  our  Bible-school  teachers. 

Again,  the  teacher  must  have  an  insight  into  the  content  of  the  cul- 
tural means  which  he  is  to  use,  the  chief  of  these  being  the  Bible.  As  a 
result  of  modern  study  and  research  the  Bible  has  become  almost  a  new 
book;  it  certainly  has  become  a  much  more  valuable  means  for  moral 
and  religious  education.  But  if  the  teacher  is  to  use  aright  the  Word  of 
God,  he  must  be  given,  not  only  the  literal  facts  of  the  Bible,  but  the 
meaning  of  these  facts  as  interpreted  for  us  by  modern  Biblical  scholar- 
ship. He  must  be  led  to  view  the  Bible  as  he  now  views  the  child — from 
the  developmental,  historical  standpoint,  that  thus  he  may  be  able  to 
fit  the  contents  of  the  one  more  closely  to  the  needs  of  the  other. 

And  also,  he  must  have  an  insight  into  the  process  of  learning,  which 
is  but  the  converse  of  the  process  of  teaching.  He  must  know  how 
to  present  the  material  of  instruction  so  as  to  make  the  deepest  impression 
upon  the  mind  of  the  pupil;  how  to  connect  the  new  with  the  old,  that  a 
thorough  and  correct  assimilation  may  result;  how  to  call  forth  the  new 
knowledge  in  varied  forms  of  expression  which  shall  insure  its  perma- 
nence and  its  immediate  and  future  usefulness.  One  who  becomes  a 
master  in  the  art  of  securing  a  vivid  impression,  a  correct  assimilation, 
and  a  varied  and  ready  expression  on  the  part  of  the  pupil  has  become  a 
master  in  the  finest  of  the  fine  arts — the  art  of  teaching.  Other  things 
being  equal,  the  teacher  with  the  profoundest  insight  into  the  nature  of 
the  pupil,  the  content  of  the  means,  and  the  process  of  learning,  will  be 
the  most  successful  teacher. 

In  the  third  place,  the  teacher  needs  a  developed  individuality,  that 
he  may  make  the  best  use  of  the  means  at  his  disposal  for  the  actualiza- 
tion of  his  ideals.  Psychology  and  pedagogy  give  to  the  teacher  prin- 
ciples of  great  regulative  value,  but  the  application  of  these  to  the  concrete 
case  will  call  for  a  high  degree  of  intelligence,  tact,  and  skill.  As  David 
felt  that  he  was  not  free  to  do  his  best  when  clad  in  the  armor  of  Saul, 
so  the  teacher  will  never  be  free  to  do  his  best  until  he  discards  the 
limitations  which  he  imposes  upon  himself  when  he  attempts  to  follow 
slavishly  the  methods  and  plans  of  any  one  of  the  army  of  lesson-help 
writers.  He  must  be  himself  if  he  would  have  power  in  presentation. 
However  much  better  from  a  purely  pedagogical  standpoint  a  lesson 
prepared  by  another  may  be,  a  teacher  cannot  present  it  with  the  same 


2S8  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

power  as  one  planned  by  himself  after  careful  study,  which  shall  be  the 
best  expression  of  himself  at  the  time.  And  from  this  increased  power  of 
presentation  will  come  larger  and  more  certain  results;  for  deeper 
impressions  will  be  made,  greater  interest  aroused,  and  the  pupil  will  be 
stimulated  to  put  forth  greater  effort  to  live  out  in  action  the  truth  thus 
powerfully  presented.  The  world  is  full  of  imitators;  what  is  needed 
is  an  increase  in  the  number  of  those  who  are  not  willing  to  follow 
slavishly  the  methods  of  others,  but  who  strive  to  express  themselves  in 
their  work,  seeking  to  lead  rather  than  to  follow. 

And  this  development  of  individuahty  is  an  essential  factor  in  the 
advancement  of  religious  education;  for  just  so  long  as  teachers  and 
other  workers  are  willing  to  follow  blindly  the  leadership  of  the  few, 
will  the  educational  world  be  deprived  of  the  possible  contribution  they 
might  make  to  the  advancement  of  the  cause  if  they  developed  their 
individuality  and  allowed  it  to  find  free  expression.  A  developed  indi- 
viduahty then  gives  greater  power  in  presentation,  secures  larger  and 
more  certain  results,  and  contributes  to  the  advancement  of  religious 
education.  If  a  teacher  has  ideals,  insight,  and  individuality,  he  is  fairly 
well  equipped  for  his  work. 

How  can  this  equipment  be  secured  to  the  teacher  ? 

The  pastor  is  the  one  to  whom  the  teacher  naturally  looks  for  ideals. 
But  ideals  are  carefully  constructed  edifices,  built  by  the  constructive 
imagination  from  materials  furnished  by  experience  and  reason.  If  the 
pastor  is  to  have  these  ideals,  they  must  be  the  result  of  a  thorough  study 
of  the  Bible  school  as  an  educational  institution,  and  of  all  phases  of 
its  work.  Such  a  study  should  be  a  part,  and  a  very  considerable  part, 
of  his  seminary  training.  Until  the  importance  of  the  Bible  school,  and 
the  intimate  and  vital  relation  of  the  pastor  to  it,  are  recognized  by  the 
seminary  authorities,  resulting  in  important  modifications  of  the  semi- 
nary curriculum,  we  must  not  expect  too  much  from  the  pastor  in  the 
way  of  Bible-school  leadership.  But  when  these  facts  are  recognized; 
when  full  and  carefully  planned  courses  of  study  in  religious  psychology 
and  pedagogy,  and  in  Bible-school  organization  and  administration,  are 
introduced  into  the  curricula  of  our  seminaries,  then  we  may  look  for 
those  results  which  I  have  pointed  out  as  coming  from  the  persistent 
pursuit  of  high  ideals. 

The  necessary  insight  into  the  nature  of  the  pupil,  the  content  of 
educational  material  and  the  process  of  learning  may  be  gained  in  study- 
classes,  conducted  by  competent  leaders  who  shall  be  properly  com- 
pensated for  their  work  by  the  church.  Courses  in  outline  dealing 
with  the  structure,  development,  and  contents  of  the  Bible;  with  the 


THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  TEACHER  259 

nature  and  development  of  the  mind;  and  with  the  science  and  art  of 
teaching,  should  be  offered,  and  all  teachers  urged  to  take  advantage 
of  the  opportunity  to  equip  themselves  more  thoroughly  for  their  work. 
When  such  study-classes  become  permanently  established  in  any  school, 
then  the  rule  may  be  made  that  no  one  shall  be  appointed  as  a  regular 
teacher  in  that  school  who  has  not  successfully  completed  the  course 
of  study  required  for  the  teacher's  diploma.  I  know  of  one  school  where 
this  plan  has  been  successfully  carried  out. 

The  development  of  individuality  may  be  secured  (i)  through  what 
I  may  call  practice-classes,  whose  members — those  who  are  already 
enrolled  in  the  study-classes — may  gather  from  time  to  time  for  practice 
in  the  preparation  and  presentation  of  lessons,  the  work  of  the  pupil- 
teacher  being  criticised  by  the  class  members  and  by  the  class  instructor. 
In  addition  to  this  practice  work,  the  lesson-plans  presented  in  the 
various  lesson-helps '  should  be  studied  and  their  good  and  bad  points 
noted.  (2)  Through  a  certain  flexibility  in  the  school  organization  which 
shall  allow  the  teacher  considerable  liberty  in  the  presentation  of  the 
lesson.  In  too  many  of  our  schools  the  teacher  is  required  to  present 
the  lesson  in  a  certain  way  to  meet  the  requirements  of  desk  reviews, 
examinations  and  promotion.  The  individuahty  of  the  teacher  must 
have  a  chance  to  express  itself,  within  certain  limits,  as  regards  both  the 
selection  and  presentation  of  lesson  material. 


DEAN  J.  B.  VAN  METER, 

woman's    college,    BALTIMORE,    MARYLAND 

It  is  pertinent  to  ask  what  criteria  are  applied  to  the  Sunday  school 
and  to  the  Sunday-school  teacher  in  determining  efficiency.  As  an 
institution  the  Sunday  school  must  have  an  aim ;  as  a  part  of  the  church 
it  must  exercise  a  function ;  its  efficiency  would  seem  to  depend  upon  the 
extent  and  thoroughness  with  which  it  performs  its  function  and  reaches 
its  aim.  The  aim  of  the  Sunday  school  determines  the  aim  of  the  Sunday- 
school  teacher.  His  efficiency,  too,  is  to  be  judged  by  the  extent  to 
which  he  helps  the  Sunday  school  to  realize  its  aim. 

Is  the  consciousness  of  the  church  definite  as  to  the  aim  of  the  Sunday 
school  ?  Does  the  average  Sunday-school  teacher  go  to  his  work  with 
a  distinct  idea  of  what  he  is  to  undertake?  Is  it  not  true  that  many 
churches  have  Sunday  schools  simply  because  a  Sunday  school  is  the 
proper  thing  for  the  church  to  have;  and  that  multitudes  of  teachers  are 
teaching  in  the  Sunday  school  simply  because  they  conceive  of  the  work 
as  their  duty  without  any  definite  idea  of  what  that  duty  consists  in  ? 
And  is  it  not  true  that  a  visitor  who  had  never  before  seen  a  Sunday  school 


26o  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

might  sit  through  a  session  wondering  what  the  whole  proceeding,  or 
more  correctly  the  fragmentary  proceedings,  mean  ?  It  might  wonder- 
fully promote  the  efficiency  of  the  Sunday-school  teacher  to  furnish  him 
with  an  aim,  that  is,  to  develop  in  him  a  clear  conception  of  what  he  is 
to  try  for  in  his  self-denying  and  discouraging  efforts.  Perhaps  the  dis- 
couragement comes  from  wrong  expectations. 

It  may  be  replied  that  the  aim  of  the  Sunday-school  teacher  is  to 
teach.  If  we  ask,  To  teach  what  ?  the  reply  is  ready:  The  Bible.  But 
the  relations  in  which  the  Bible  stands  to  human  life  are  many.  It  is 
literature,  it  is  history,  it  is  philosophy;  which  aspect  of  the  Bible  is  to 
be  taught  by  the  Sunday-school  teacher?  Again  the  reply  is  ready: 
None  of  these;  the  Bible  is  given  for  a  purpose  which  may  be  set  forth 
in  the  words  of  John,  "These  things  are  written  that  ye  may  believe  that 
Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God;  and  that  believing  ye  may  have  life 
in  his  name."  Now,  this  is  something  that  cannot  be  taught  in  the  sense 
that  history,  rhetoric,  geography,  etc.,  can  be  taught.  It  is  something 
that  must  rise  spontaneously  in  consciousness  while  the  teaching  of  what 
contains  suggestions  of  it  is  going  on.  In  fact,  what  the  Sunday-school 
teacher  should  aim  at  stands  somewhat  in  the  same  relation  to  Biblical 
instruction  as  culture  or  inteUigence  does  to  the  teaching  of  mathematics, 
rhetoric,  history,  etc.,  by  day-school  teachers.  Some  teachers  succeed 
in  conveying  a  marvelous  quantity  of  learning  without  awakening  much 
intelligence.  The  Sunday-school  teacher  who  should  drill  his  class  to 
perfection  on  the  literary  and  historical  characteristics  and  contents  of 
the  Bible  without  awakening  something  of  loving  faith  in  Jesus,  without 
fanning  into  flame  the  sparks  of  spiritual  life  which  all  child-hearts 
contain,  could  not  be  counted  a  success. 

This  does  not  need  to  be  argued;  it  is  conceded  as  soon  as  stated. 
But  does  it  not  follow  that  it  is  not  the  aim  of  the  Sunday-school  teacher 
to  teach  the  Bible  ?  He  should  use  the  Bible  in  seeking  to  accomplish 
his  aims.  In  other  words,  the  study  of  the  Bible  is  not  an  end  in  itself, 
but  only  a  means  to  an  end.  It  also  follows  that  the  aim  of  the  Sunday- 
school  teacher  is  to  effect  in  his  pupils  an  impression  which  may  awaken 
vital  spiritual  processes  for  the  shaping  of  life  and  the  determination  of 
character.  However  efficiently  the  Bible  may  be  taught  as  literature  and 
history  and  biography  and  geography  and  ethnography,  or  anything 
else  of  the  kind,  the  teacher  is  inefficient  in  the  degree  in  which  he  falls 
short  of  stirring  these  vital  processes.  However  far  he  may  come  short 
in  other  matters,  he  is  efficient  if  he  influences  lives  for  righteousness. 
If  this  aim  can  be  kept  before  the  Sunday-school  teacher,  not  in  a  per- 
functory way  as  a  dialectic  admission,  but  in  a  vital  way  as  the  burden 


THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  TEACHER  261 

of  his  spirit  and  the  interest  that  shapes  his  activity;  if  judgment  and 
appreciation  of  his  work  shall  proceed  upon  this  view  of  his  function, 
more  might  be  accomplished  for  his  efficiency,  and  for  that  of  the  Sunday 
school,  than  by  furnishing  him  with  any  number  and  any  kind  of  external 
appliances  and  helps.  His  interest  will  lead  him  instinctively  to  find 
ways  of  securing  these;  and,  what  is  of  greater  importance,  will  be  the 
disposition  to  do  it,  and  to  make  use  of  them. 

Now,  what  means  are  at  the  command  of  the  Sunday-school  teacher 
for  effecting  this  impression — for  arousing  and  directing  these  spiritual 
impulses?  To  the  question  put  in  this  form  there  is  but  one  answer: 
None.  That  is,  no  means  are  at  his  command.  He  is  not  to  command, 
but  to  be  commanded;  he  is  not  to  use,  but  to  be  used.  He  must  himself 
live  in  the  spiritual  universe  into  which  he  seeks  to  introduce  his  pupils. 
He  must  be  a  subject  and  medium  of  the  spiritual  life  which  he  would 
convey.  No  reason  has  yet  appeared  for  abandoning  the  principle 
that  only  life  begets  life;  or  that  life,  where  it  exists,  will  communicate 
life  even  under  the  least  favorable  circumstances;  it  cannot  be  suppressed. 
Whatever  forms  of  communication  may  be  employed,  however  closely 
these  may  conform  to  pedagogical  principles,  or  however  far  seem  to 
depart  from  them,  the  life  will  stream  through  them  and  tend  to  propa- 
gate itself.  The  efficiency  of  the  Sunday  school  in  its  beginnings  was 
principally  owing  to  this  fact.  Forgetfulness  of  it  will  always  lead  to 
inefficiency.  It  does  not  make  against  the  force  of  these  conditions  as 
applied  to  the  Sunday  school  that  they  also  apply  beyond  the  limits  of 
the  Sunday  school. 

It  is  true  that  the  home  is  to  be  regarded  as  pre-eminently  the  nursery 
of  spiritual  life,  and  that  a  parent  may  not  abdicate  his  sovereignty  in 
this  respect.  But  all  homes  are  not  Christian  homes,  and  many  Chris- 
tian homes  are  not  filled  with  a  spiritual  atmosphere.  A  distinct  reluc- 
tance is  discernible  on  the  part  of  many  Christian  parents  to  broach  the 
subject  of  personal  religion  to  their  children.  It  is  also  true  that  formal 
and  deliberate  methods  are  not  the  most  effective  in  the  home.  Here, 
too,  spontaneity  is  indispensable.  Family  life  in  evident  view  of  things 
unseen,  as  an  environment  to  which  conduct  and  thought  are  adapted, 
furnishes  the  conditions  under  which  the  spiritual  germs  in  child-nature 
will  most  readily  spring  into  activity.  But  the  Sunday-school  teacher 
is  a  representative  of  an  institution — the  church,  the  visible,  tangible 
form  of  God's  kingdom  among  men.  The  weight  of  that  institution  is 
with  him,  gives  to  his  efforts  a  dignity  and  an  authority  which  is  larger 
than  that  of  the  home;  and  this  constitutes  an  appreciable  addition  to 
home  influence.     God  speaks  through  father  and  mother,  but  God's 


262  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

thoughts  are  more  comprehensively  and  systematically  represented  in 
the  church  whose  representative  the  teacher  is,  and  the  World  which 
is  not  this  world  becomes  an  object  of  more  direct  regard. 

Having  given  the  teacher  an  aim,  the  next  thing  is  to  give  him  a 
chance.  The  discussion  of  this  point  might  have  occupied  the  whole 
paper;  but  perhaps  it  is  safest  to  treat  it  only  by  way  of  brief  suggestion. 

It  takes  time  to  make  an  impression.  The  teacher  of  literature  in 
his  endeavor  to  awaken  appreciation  of  a  certain  production  often 
feels,  when  the  clock  ends  his  efforts,  that  he  has  only  half  succeeded  for 
want  of  time.  Up  to  a  certain  point,  limitation  of  time  is  an  incentive 
to  concentration.  It  discourages  the  unnecessary  and  invites  the  essen- 
tial. The  best  is  selected,  the  indifferent  is  passed  by.  But  has  the 
Sunday  school  kept  on  the  safe  side  of  that  point  ?  Here  is  an  illus- 
tration :  The  time  assigned  to  the  session  is  an  hour  and  a  half.  Twenty 
minutes  are  occupied  with  the  general  exercises  of  opening;  the  classes 
are  then  given  to  the  teachers  for  thirty  minutes,  a  considerable  part  of 
which  is  occupied  in  getting  together  the  paraphernalia  of  the  class, 
finding  the  place  in  journals  and  lesson-books,  hearing  the  recitation 
of  the  golden  text  and  reports  of  the  weekly  reading.  Ten  minutes  are 
then  given  to  a  review  from  the  desk  in  which  a  totally  different  line  of 
thought  is  likely  to  be  taken  from  that  which  the  teacher  has  followed. 
(Why  not  have  this  come  first,  a  preview  instead  of  a  review  ?  Would 
it  not  be  more  helpful  ?)  The  remainder  of  the  session  is  given  to  col- 
lecting the  class  funds,  making  up  the  account,  and  singing  favorite 
music.  The  teacher  has  had  but  one-third  of  the  whole  time,  and  that 
not  unincumbered,  in  which  to  impress  the  teaching  of  the  lesson  upon 
the  class.  One  Sunday  in  the  month  is  devoted  in  great  part  to  mis- 
sionary or  temperance  exercises  of  a  general  character,  and  several 
Sundays  of  the  year  to  preparation  for  a  Sunday-school  anniversary,  on 
which  occasions  it  is  announced:  "It  will  be  necessary  to  shorten  the 
time  devoted  to  the  lesson."  Can  it  be  expected  that  efficient  Sunday- 
school  teachers  will  be  produced  under  these  circumstances  ? 


THE    RELIGIOUS    EDUCATION   ASSOCIATION   AND   THE 
SUNDAY  SCHOOL 

REV.  ALBERT  E.  DUNNING,  D.D., 

EDITOR    "the   CONGREGATIONALIST,"    BOSTON,    MASSACHUSETTS 

What  can  this  Association  do  for  the  betterment  of  the  Sunday 
school  during  the  coming  year  ? 

1.  It  can  extend  information  concerning  experiments  in  grading 
Sunday  schools.  A  widespread  interest  is  manifesting  itself  in  better 
methods  of  organization  and  teaching.  The  plan  is  gaining  ground 
of  having  classes  arranged  according  to  age  and  attainment,  Bible  and 
lesson  material  suited  to  each  class,  and  advancement  from  lower  to 
higher  grades.  Schools  here  and  there  are  making  experiments.  New 
lesson  courses  are  being  prepared.  Several  such  courses  are  in  use. 
The  number  of  schools  using  them  is  relatively  small,  but  they  are  mak- 
ing commendable  progress. 

This  awakening  interest  should  be  met  by  all  available  information 
concerning  grading  of  classes  and  courses  of  lessons.  Correspondence 
should  be  promoted  between  such  schools.  The  time  may  be  ripe  for 
forming  an  organization  of  such  schools  for  mutual  aid  and  for  extending 
their  methods.  The  Association  should  issue  bulletins  from  time  to 
time  giving  lists  of  these  schools  and  information  concerning  them. 
The  General  Secretary  may  gather  this  information,  and  the  bulletins 
should  be  issued  from  the  Executive  Office. 

2.  //  can  promote  the  training  of  Sunday-school  teachers.  In  a  degree 
this  training  has  been  advanced  by  illustrating  principles  and  methods 
of  teaching  through  the  use  of  the  same  material  in  all  grades.  This 
important  advantage  will  be  lost  when  different  lessons  are  introduced 
for  different  classes,  but  much  will  be  gained  by  directing  the  attention 
of  teachers  to  more  thorough  study  of  their  pupils  instead  of  to  the  study 
of  the  application  to  them  of  a  particular  lesson. 

This  Association  can  point  out  to  pastors  and  Sunday-school  superin- 
tendents the  best  simple  treatises  on  teaching,  can  show  the  increasing 
importance,  in  view  of  changes  now  going  on,  of  Christian  teachers 
in  public  and  private  schools  taking  service  in  Sunday  schools,  and 
can  promote  institutes  for  Sunday-school  teachers  similar  to  those  for 
public-school  teachers.  The  enthusiasm  of  teaching  for  the  sake  of 
winning  disciples  for  Christ  and  of  making  them  intimately  acquainted 
with  Him — in  a  word,  of  bringing  them  into  possession  of  the  eternal 

263 


264  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

life — may  be  a  new  revival  of  religion  for  a  nev^  age,  and  this  Association 
should  hear  and  respond  to  the  call  of  God  to  promote  such  a  revival. 

3.  //  can  joster  the  study  of  the  Bible  in  the  home.  The  first  duty  of 
the  Christian  church  is  the  education  of  parents,  prospective  and  actual. 
The  religious  character  of  the  community  and  the  state  is  determined 
by  the  religious  atmosphere  of  the  home.  The  knowledge  of  God  in 
the  home,  the  sense  of  his  presence  and  of  responsibility  to  Him  culti- 
vated in  the  home,  are  of  primary  importance.  The  schools  will  not  be 
better  than  the  homes  from  which  their  pupils  come.  The  homes  will 
not  be  better  than  the  churches  in  which  the  parents  worship. 

This  Association,  then,  should  invite  such  plans  of  Bible  study  as 
will  interest  all  the  members  of  the  home,  making  the  parents  teachers 
as  well  as  pupils,  and  inciting  both  parents  and  children  to  seek  the  aid 
of  the  church  in  their  study.     Perhaps  no  courses  of  lessons  are  more 
needed  at  present  than  those  suited  to  interest  adults  of  ordinary  educa- 
tion in  the  teaching  of  the  Bible  as  to  character  and  conduct.     The 
deeper  questions  concerning  the  person  and  mission  of  Christ,  the  rela- 
tion of  his  disciples  to  one  another  in  daily  life,  and  concerning  the 
eternal  life,  call  for  answers  appropriate  to  our  time.     There  are  signs 
that  these  questions  are  being  asked  by  many  with  a  deepening  interest. 
It  may  not  be  wise  for  this  Association  to  attempt  the  preparation  of 
text-books  on  these  themes,  but  it  can  find  out  what  are  available,  call 
attention  to  them,  and  urge  their  use.     WTiatever  it  can  do  to  awaken 
in  parents  the  responsibility  for  the  religious  education  of  their  children 
will  touch  with  new  power  the  sources  of  the  religious  life  of  the  nation. 
4.   //  can  help  to  popularize  Bible  study  in  communities.     There  is 
in  the  public  mind  a  latent  interest  in  religion  which  does  not  express 
itself  in  the  ordinary  channels  of  church  life,  nor  respond  to  evangelistic 
meetings,  but  which  is  aroused  when  it  is  addressed  in  the  way  of  popu- 
lar instruction.     In  Boston  for  the  last  two  winters  Saturday  lectures  and 
question  classes  have  been  offered  under  the  auspices  of  the  Twentieth 
Century  Club.     Able  instructors,  some  of  whom  are  on  the  program 
of  this  Convention,  have  given  lectures  on  the  history,  structure,  contents, 
literary  value,  and  spiritual  message  of  the  Bible.     The  interest  shown 
has  been  much  beyond  what  was  expected.     It  has  been  necessary  to  use 
larger  audience  rooms  than  were  at  first  provided  and  the  attendance  has 
steadily  increased.     These  lectures  have  become  a  feature  in  the  religious 
and  literary  life  of  the  city.     Something  like  this  experiment  has  been 
reported  from  several  communities.     It  needs  only  the  initiative  to  multi- 
ply them  one  hundred  fold. 

This  Association  can  spread  information  of  such  work,  and  can 


THE  R.  E.  A.  AND  THE  SUNDAY  SCHOOL       265 

stimulate  people  to  undertake  it.  It  can  call  attention  by  correspond- 
ence with  individuals  to  opportunities  for  introducing  such  courses  of 
lectures.  It  can  issue  bulletins  explaining  how  these  courses  can  be 
inaugurated  and  what  has  been  done  by  means  of  them.  Every  such 
course  prepares  the  way  for  a  new  campaign  to  enlarge  the  Sunday 
schools  of  the  community  and  to  improve  their  work.  It  is  especially 
suited  to  promote  the  formation  of  adult  classes. 

5.  It  can  encourage  the  training  of  ministers  as  educators,  fitted  to 
be  masters  of  church  schools.  The  most  important  need  of  the  church 
at  this  time  is  the  knowledge  of  religious  truth  on  the  part  of  those 
whom  it  would  lead — a  knowledge  which  can  be  communicated  only 
through  teachers,  classes,  and  text-books.  The  church  must  become 
a  school  if  it  is  to  satisfy  the  religious  wants  of  the  American  people, 
and  its  pastors  must  be  teachers.  The  theological  schools  are  awaken- 
ing to  the  importance  of  meeting  these  changed  conditions. 

This  Association  can  extend  to  them  a  helping  hand.  It  can  make 
known  the  new  hterature  on  the  subjects  of  Bible  teaching,  on  the 
organization  of  Sunday  schools,  and  the  training  of  teachers — a  litera- 
ture which  is  rapidly  increasing  in  both  quantity  and  value,  but  of  which 
the  average  minister  knows  little,  or  if  he  has  heard  of  it  underesti- 
mates it.  Information  to  pastors  of  material  available  to  help  them  to 
be  successful  teachers  of  teachers  can  be  given  by  this  Association  through 
its  members  so  as  to  change  many  churches  into  schools,  and  in  turn 
to  develop  schools  into  intelligent  worshiping  and  working  churches. 

6.  //  can  elevate  the  standards  of  the  average  Sunday  school.  A  gulf 
has  been  created  and  needlessly  widened  between  many  of  the  educated 
classes  and  the  average  Sunday  school  because  it  has  not  adopted 
modern  pubhc-school  methods.  It  has  been  criticised,  ridiculed,  and 
apologized  for  by  those  who  ought  to  have  known  how  to  put  to  some 
good  use  what  there  is  in  it  of  value.  These  methods  cannot  be  rigidly 
applied  to  the  average  Sunday  school.  Meeting  once  a  week  for  a 
single  hour,  with  attendance  voluntary  on  the  part  of  both  teacher  and 
scholar,  with  an  average  membership  in  many  sections  of  the  country 
of  less  than  fifty,  the  question  is,  taking  conditions  as  they  are:  What 
can  be  done  to  improve  the  average  Sunday  school  ? 

This  Association  should  encourage  its  own  members  to  take  hold 
of  the  Sunday  school  in  the  community  where  they  live;  to  have  confi- 
dence in  and  cordial  fellowship  with  those  who  labor  in  it;  to  make 
the  most  of  the  institution  under  its  conditions  and  limitations,  and 
to  aim  for  and  expect  to  secure  Christian  character  and  growing  religious 
life  in  its  pupils.     Through  no  other  institution  can  this  body  work  so 


266  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

effectively  to  quicken  and  instruct  the  spiritual  life  of  the  American 
people,  as  through  the  average  Sunday  school. 

7.  //  can  co-operate  actively  with  the  International  Sunday  School 
Association.  That  organization  includes  a  million  and  a  half  of  Sunday- 
school  teachers.  Many  of  them  are  interested,  not  only  in  their  own 
local  work,  but  in  the  larger  problem  of  religious  education  of  the 
whole  people  through  the  Sunday  school.  That  organization  needs 
the  presence  and  support  of  the  individual  members  of  the  Religious 
Education  Association.  It  has  lacked  too  much  the  interest  and  encour- 
agement of  those  engaged  in  solving  the  problem  of  secular  education. 
Many  of  us  believe  that  religion  is  essential  to  any  complete  education. 
Those  who  thus  believe  cannot  afford  to  ignore  the  organized  body  of 
Sunday  schools  of  this  whole  country.  Probably  not  i  per  cent,  of 
the  delegates  at  the  triennial  Sunday-school  convention  in  Denver  in  1902 
were  present  at  the  first  meeting  of  the  Religious  Education  Association 
in  Chicago  last  February.  Nor  was  the  proportion  of  the  members  of 
this  Association  who  attended  the  Denver  Convention  any  greater. 
There  seems  to  be  a  gulf  between  the  body  of  educators  of  this  country 
and  the  leaders  in  the  Sunday  school.  It  should  be  one  object  of  this 
Association  to  bridge  this  gulf.  One  supreme  aim  characterizes  all 
those  who  hold  that  the  religious  life  of  the  people  is  of  supreme  impor- 
tance. It  must  be  possible  for  them  to  work  together  for  the  one  end. 
Members  of  this  body  therefore  should  take  interest  in  the  appointment 
of  delegates  to,  and  should  attend  in  large  numbers  and  share  in  the 
deliberations  of,  the  International  Convention  next  year  at  Toronto. 
By  united  effort  the  Christian  workers  of  America  can  lift  the  Sunday 
schools  to  a  much  higher  plane  of  usefulness  and  power. 


DISCUSSION 

REV.  LESTER  BRADNER,  JR.,  Ph.D., 

RECTOR  ST.  JOHN'S  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH,  PROVIDENCE,  RHODE  ISLAND 

1.  We  must  reach  the  teachers.  The  "point  of  contact"  between 
the  Religious  Education  Association  and  the  Sunday  school  is  the 
teacher.  The  healthy  condition  of  a  Sunday  school  depends  more  upon 
the  teacher  than  upon  the  superintendent  or  pastor,  judged  from  the 
pedagogical  point  of  view.  The  effort  of  the  Sunday  school  and  the 
effect  of  the  Sunday  school  come  to  a  focus  in  the  teacher.  Let  us  note 
that  every  improvement  in  grading,  every  advance  in  standards,  renders 
the  capacity  of  the  teacher  a  matter  of  more  vital  importance.  I  regard 
it  as  essential,  therefore,  to  the  success  of  this  movement,  so  far  as  the 
Sunday  school  is  concerned,  that  steps  be  taken  to  come  into  touch  with 
the  teachers. 

2.  The  Religious  Education  Association  must  endeavor  most  ear- 
nestly to  impart  to  the  popular  conception  of  rehgious  education  a  sense 
of  its  larger  scope.  Education,  if  I  understand  the  meaning  of  the  term 
aright,  is  training  the  child  to  understand  himself  and  his  environment, 
and  to  make  the  proper  reaction  or  answer  to  the  impulses  which  arise 
within  him.  We  cannot  accomplish  this  in  the  religious  realm  without 
taking  into  consideration  the  different  spheres  of  the  child's  religious 
impressions.  We  must  regard  the  different  departments  of  his  actual 
experience  with  religion,  and  teach  him  to  understand  them,  and  to 
act  in  them  with  accuracy  and  force.  This  means  that  religious  educa- 
tion must  comprehend  more  than  merely  a  study  of  the  Bible,  inasmuch 
as  the  Bible  is  not  the  only  religious  environment  with  which  the 
child  comes  in  contact.  Worship,  for  instance,  is  an  essential  part 
of  the  child's  religious  life.  Shall  he  not,  then,  be  taught  what  prayer 
and  praise  mean;  what  liturgy  is;  what  the  church  is  as  an  institution, 
and  in  history  ?  Missions,  again,  are  a  vital  part  of  the  active  Christian 
effort  of  the  day.  Is  there  to  be  no  study  of  missions  in  the  Sunday 
school  ?  Or,  as  the  pupil  grows  more  mature,  is  he  not  to  be  introduced 
to  the  formulation  of  practical  Christian  doctrine  ?  Is  even  the  study  of 
Christian  ethics  foreign  to  the  larger  idea  of  a  religious  education  ?  It 
is  true  that  the  study  of  the  Bible  leads  into  these  things.  But  while 
the  Bible  remains  the  sole  text-book,  these  subjects  are  treated  in  such  a 
fragmentary  way  that  definiteness  and  systematic  coherence  are  sacrificed. 

267 


a68  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

To  become  expert  in  Bible  knowledge  is  not  necessarily  to  be  well  equipped 
in  the  Christian  thought  and  activity  of  the  present  day.  The  pulpit 
is  our  example  here.  We  are  not  content  that  the  clergy  as  our  teachers 
should  limit  their  activity  to  exhaustive  exegesis  of  Biblical  passages. 
The  Bible  is  a  norm,  but  not  a  digest  of  Christian  knowledge  or  a  com- 
pendium of  applied  Christianity.  It  contains  Christian  principles,  but 
it  does  not  cover  Christian  practice  in  the  descriptive  sense.  Christian 
education  is  not  complete  until  the  pupil  studies  practice  as  well  as 
principle.  His  sense  of  how  religion  is  to  be  expressed  must  be  trained 
quite  as  much  as  his  appreciation  of  its  theoretic  principles.  Christianity 
does  not  merely  set  people  to  reading  the  Bible;  therefore  to  train  a 
child  to  Christian  reactions  is  not  to  be  limited  to  Bible  study.  It  must 
go  the  round  of  the  activities  which  Christian  faith  induces,  and  of  the 
topics  with  which  Christian  thought  is  occupied. 

3.  Furthermore,  the  Religious  Education  Association  must  help 
to  emphasize  the  dignity  of  religious  education.  It  must  raise  the 
Sunday  school  in  men's  estimate  of  it  from  a  toy  to  a  constituent  part 
in  the  great  whole  of  education.  In  what  we  call  "secular"  education 
there  is  not  a  step  in  the  process,  no  matter  how  early  it  comes,  which 
does  not  receive  dignified  consideration  as  being  an  integral  part  of  the 
total  structure.  The  kindergarten  and  the  primary  school  are  thought 
worthy  of  attention  because  they  are  links  in  the  process  which  is  crowned 
by  the  college  and  the  university.  This  is  not  the  case  at  present  with 
the  Sunday  school.  It  has  no  dignity.  It  is  hardly  an  educational 
institution.  It  is  something  for  children,  and  that  is  all.  In  secular 
education  the  child  is  viewed  as  the  potential  man.  His  early  efforts 
are  as  carefully  guided  by  the  best  thought  of  the  day  as  the  sowing  of 
the  grain  is  studied  by  the  farmer  who  reckons  on  his  harvest.  Not  so 
the  Sunday  school.  It  seems  to  lack  outlook.  There  the  child  is  not  the 
potential  Christian  man,  but  just  a  mere  child,  and  the  thought,  effort, 
and  money  bestowed  upon  his  education  are  all  in  proportion  to  this 
feeble  estimate  of  what  the  Sunday  school  means  educationally.  The 
Sunday  school  at  present  is  not  an  instrument  or  a  step  to  intelligent 
and  efficient  Christian  manhood  and  womanhood.  Let  the  Religious 
Education  Association  teach  the  Christian  people  of  the  land  to  be  as 
much  in  earnest  with  the  Sunday  school  as  they  are  with  secular  educa- 
tion, to  require  as  much  of  it,  and  to  sacrifice  as  much  for  it.  Then  it 
will  accomplish  a  work  which  will  make  history. 


VI.    SECONDARY  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 


RESOURCES  OF  THE  SCHOOL  FOR  MORAL  TRAINING 
RAY  GREENE  RULING,  Sc.D., 

HEAD  MASTER  OF  THE  ENGLISH  HIGH  SCHOOL,  CAMBRIDGE,  MASSACHUSETTS 

It  must  be  conceded  that  the  direct  work  of  the  school  is  intellectual. 
Its  primary  task  is  to  train  the  eye  to  see  and  the  hand  to  delineate 
and  construct,  to  induce  the  acquisition  of  knowledge,  to  develop 
aptitudes  and  establish  useful  mental  habits — in  short,  through  lessons 
drawn  alike  from  nature  and  from  man  to  secure  in  the  pupil  intellectual 
efl&ciency  as  a  member  of  society.  But  this  concession  does  not  deny 
to  the  school  power  as  an  ethical  instrument.  If  we  are  to  have  the 
pupil  at  all,  we  must  have  him  in  his  entirety.  We  cannot  bring  his 
intellect  into  the  schoolhouse  and  leave  his  emotions  and  will  at  home. 
The  whole  boy  is  at  school,  and  we  must  not  ignore  the  presence  of  any 
element  of  his  nature;  we  must  have  a  whole  school  in  which  to  receive 
him.  This  means  that  we  cannot  relegate  moral  training  altogether  to 
the  home  and  the  church.  The  need  for  it  confronts  us  in  every  school- 
room.    What  have  we  there  with  which  we  may  meet  this  need  ? 

There  is  well-nigh  universal  agreement,  moreover,  that  this  moral 
work  of  the  school,  while  not  the  most  direct,  is  nevertheless  the  most 
important  of  its  activities.  Herbart  was  undoubtedly  right  when  he 
formulated  the  highest  educational  ideal  as  the  cultivation  of  strength 
of  character.  But  there  is  no  such  agreement  as  to  the  best  way  of 
attaining  this  ideal.  Our  New  England  advisers  of  the  present  day 
flatly  disagree  among  themselves.  President  G.  Stanley  Hall^  presents 
these  suggestions: 

During  the  first  years  of  school  life  a  point  of  prime  importance  is  the  educa- 
tion of  conscience.  A  system  of  carefully  arranged  talks,  with  copious  illustrations 
from  history  and  literature,  about  such  topics  as  fair  play,  slang,  cronies,  dress, 
teasing,  getting  mad,  prompting  in  class,  white  lies,  affectation,  cleanliness,  order, 
honor,  taste,  self-respect,  treatment  of  animals,  reading,  vacation  pursuits,  etc., 
can  be  brought  quite  within  the  range  of  boy-and-girl  interests  by  a  sympathetic 
and  tactful  teacher,  and  be  made  immediately  and  obviously  practical.  All  this  is 
nothing  more  or  less  than  conscience-building. 

With  a  similar  thought,  ex-President  Seelye,  President  Hyde,  and  Dr. 
Charles  C.  Everett  have  written  manuals  for  the  teaching  of  ethics 

'  Pedagogical  Seminary,  Vol.  I,  p.  203. 

269 


270  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

in  the  schools.     Thus  on  high  authority  we  have  formal  instruction 
recommended  as  a  means  of  moral  education. 

On  the  opposite  hand  stands  Professor  George  H.  Palmer,  himself  a 
most  inspiring  teacher  of  moral  philosophy,  decrying  formal  instruction 
in  ethics  through  all  the  earlier  years: 

If  morality  be  considered  as  something  detached,  to  be  taught  as  geography 
is  taught,  and  because  most  important  of  all  subjects,  to  be  taught  as  distinct  and 
apart  from  life,  then  it  is  hopeless  to  expect  help  from  the  school.  A  scientific 
treatment  is  possible  in  ethics,  which  is  the  comprehension  of  the  principles  of  duty; 
but  to  expect  to  teach  morality,  which  is  the  practice  of  duty,  in  this  way,  is  a 
chimerical  expectation.  Ethical  discussion  will  never  render  a  child  moral,  but 
rather  immoral.     Leave  everything  to  instinct,  and  when  it  goes  WTong,  recall  it.^ 

The  difference  between  these  two  opposing  camps  of  moral  counsel- 
ors, though  apparently  so  radical,  is  really  a  matter  of  emphasis.  Moral 
education  involves  two  elements:  the  formation  of  right  ideals  and  the 
establishment  of  right  habits.  Right  ideals  are  needed  as  guides  to  the 
will,  but  right  habits  can  come  only  as  the  product  of  the  will  itself. 
Now,  the  advocates  of  formal  instruction  in  ethics  lay  stress  on  the  sup- 
plying of  these  right  ideals,  while  the  opponents  of  direct  instruction 
emphasize  the  building  up  of  right  habits.  The  truth  lies  in  a  more' 
even  distribution  of  emphasis,  and  in  the  use  of  practical  wisdom  in  all 
stages  of  the  work. 

It  is  clear,  on  reflection,  that  theoretical  instruction  alone  is  not  a 
sufficient  basis  for  the  development  of  the  moral  character.  It  is  not 
enough  that  we  know  the  right.  It  is  not  our  theory  of  morals  that 
enables  us  to  resist  passion  and  the  stress  of  temptation.  What  is  most 
efficacious  for  good  is  the  steady  pull  of  habit.  But  in  order  to  form 
such  habits  it  is  necessary  that  our  will  should  repeatedly  act  in  decisions 
for  the  right.  As  impulses  to  such  activity  of  the  will,  our  intellect  must 
be  informed  with  ideas  of  right,  and  our  emotions  stimulated  by  the 
implanting  of  noble  ideals.  These  ideas  and  these  ideals  will  best  come 
to  children  through  instruction  in  the  principles  of  conduct  well  but- 
tressed by  concrete  examples.  To  be  effective  this  instruction  must 
have  the  quality  of  present  interest,  and  usually  therefore  must  grow 
out  of  the  circumstances  of  the  pupil.  It  cannot  ordinarily  be  formal 
and  systematic.  To  boys  and  girls  nothing  is  clearer  than  "the  foolish- 
ness of  preaching;"  their  hearts  close  abruptly  against  it;  but  the  moral 
lesson  that  comes  without  forcing  from  the  incident  that  occupies  their 
present  thought  is  often  forceful  and  enduring. 

We  may  assume,  then,  that  the  development  of  character  is  a  legiti- 
mate part  of  the  good  offices  of  the  school,  and  that  it  involves  instruc- 

'  Newspaper  report  of  address  before  the  Plymouth  Summer  School  of  Ethics. 


SCHOOL  RESOURCES  FOR  MORAL  TRAINING  271 

tion  in  ethics  of  an  incidental  kind  and  also  the  building  up  of  right 
habits.     What  means  has  the  school  for  such  work  ? 

The  ethical  influences  of  the  school  may  be  classified  as  having  their 
origin  chiefly  in  the  studies,  or  chiefly  in  the  disciphne  of  the  school, 
or  chiefly  in  the  personality  of  the  teacher.  But  no  distinction  of  this 
kind  will  prove  hard  and  fast.  It  is  the  combination  of  aU  these  sources 
of  impulse  and  restraint,  it  is  the  tone  of  the  school,  by  which  character 
is  ennobled  or  degraded.  Yet  the  analysis  proposed  is  a  convenient  one 
for  the  moment. 

Let  us  consider  the  subjects  pursued  in  the  school,  and  observ^e — 
somewhat  casually — what  ethical  content  they  have.  To  this  end  we  may 
distinguish  between  those  that  relate  to  man  and  those  others  that 
relate  to  nature.  The  former  are  the  real  humanities,  history,  litera- 
ture and  language,  the  fine  arts,  and  philosophy.  The  latter  are 
mathematics,  the  physical  and  biological  sciences,  and  manual  training. 
All  the  humanities  obviously  have  an  ethical  content:  they  portray 
directly  or  by  contrast  the  highest  human  ideals,  and  reveal  the  efi"ect 
of  these  ideals  on  human  aspiration  and  conduct.  They  easily  tend  to 
the  inculcation  of  the  highest  ideal  of  all,  which  is  service.  They  are, 
as  far  as  studies  alone  are  concerned,  our  main  reliance  for  moral 
training.  In  my  opinion,  the  nature  studies,  science,  mathematics,  and 
manual  training  have  not  in  themselves  an  ethical  content,  but  if  purused 
with  genuine  interest,  as  they  are  likely  to  be  when  they  meet  the  apti- 
tudes of  individual  students,  they  still  lend  themselves  to  moral  training. 
Their  moral  value  in  school,  however,  I  conceive  to  be  distinctly  less 
than  that  of  the  humanities. 

If  we  examine  particular  subjects,  one  by  one,  we  shall  find  them 
possible  means  of  help  in  the  enforcement  of  .specific  virtues.  The 
teaching  of  science  can  be  made  to  cultivate  truthfulness — the  cor- 
respondence between  thought  and  word  and  fact;  for  the  fact  itself  is 
present  always  to  rebuke  the  child  if  he  strays  from  it  in  thought  or 
in  speech.  Arithmetic,  algebra,  and  geometry  likewi.se  cultivate  exact- 
ness in  speech  and  action.  Manual  training  also  furnishes  a  means  for 
training  the  union  of  thought  with  action;  the  work  must  be  exact,  and 
to  make  it  so  under  right  direction  can  be  made  to  help  in  toughening 
moral  fiber. 

Turning  now  to  the  humanities,  we  find  ampler  opportunities  for 
moral  impulse.  The  study  of  history  is  a  mine  of  wealth  in  moral 
influence.  It  supplies  our  pupils  with  examples  of  heroism,  of  self- 
sacrifice,  love  of  country,  and  devotion  to  convictions  at  great  cost. 
Such  examples  cannot  fail  to  inspire,  to  ennoble,  through  the  admiration 


272  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

they  awaken  and  the  emulation  they  induce.  But  not  all  the  characters 
displayed  on  the  pages  of  history  are  good;  the  characters  of  the  good 
are  not  all  faultless.  The  skilful  teacher  will  therefore  lead  the  pupil 
to  weigh  the  right  and  wrong,  to  discern  motives  by  searching  con- 
duct, till  the  judgment  becomes  keen  on  ethical  questions,  and  moral 
insight  has  the  forceful  flash  of  intuition. 

The  service  of  literature  also,  as  a  guide  in  morals  is  as  great  as  it  is 
obvious.     Dr.  Adler  says: 

The  best  literature,  and  especially  the  best  poetry,  is  a  glass  in  which  we  see 
our  best  selves  reflected.  There  is  a  legend  which  tells  of  two  spirits,  the  one  an 
angel,  the  other  a  demon,  that  accompany  every  human  being  through  life,  and 
walk  invisibly  by  his  side.  The  one  represents  our  bad  self,  the  other  our  better 
self.  The  moral  service  which  the  best  literature  renders  us  is  to  make  the  invisible 
angel  visible.  3 

Besides  this,  the  best  literature  is  full  of  examples  that  are  well-nigh 
as  real  to  the  youth  as  the  characters  of  history,  and  by  their  pseudo- 
reality  have  power  to  arouse  admiration  and  to  inspire  emulation  in 
scarcely  less  degree.  In  literature  also  some  of  the  highest  ideals  in 
life,  "beauty,  honor,  duty,  and  love,"  find  their  most  attractive  imper- 
sonations. In  a  similar  way  fields  of  the  fine  arts  and  philosophy  could 
be  found  which  abound  in  opportunities  for  influencing  human  con- 
duct. Enough  has,  perhaps,  been  said  to  establish  my  contention  that 
the  very  subjects  of  school  instruction  are  fruitful  in  ethical  influences. 
Let  us  next  consider  the  discipline  of  the  school;  for  it  is  upon  this 
that  the  teachers  usually  rely  for  the  remedy  of  defects  in  moral  character. 
Its  sweep  is  indeed  forceful  and  broad.  I  can  point  out  here  but  a  few 
of  its  applications.  There  are  first  the  virtues  of  work,  as  President 
Hyde''  terms  them,  the  very  foundations  of  right  living.  Perhaps  the 
very  best  habit  a  school  can  generate  in  its  pv^'s  is  the  habit  of  doing 
work  well  for  the  love  they  have  of  it.  This  involves  several  elements. 
The  first  is  punctuality,  the  doing  of  the  work  at  the  right  time.  Another 
is  orderliness,  the  doing  of  the  work  in  due  order  and  in  the  right  form — 
that  is,  with  the  parts  in  right  relations  to  each  other.  Akin  to  this 
is  neatness,  which  excludes  everything  that  is  not  necessary.'  Then 
there  is  the  virtue  of  concentration,  conscious  and  intensified  attention 
to  the  activity  desired.  Next  in  order,  the  trait  of  perseverance.  And, 
amid  all,  the  crowning  virtue  of  thoroughness.  These  are  all  charac- 
teristic aims  of  school  discipline,  and  if  they  crystallize  into  habit  during 
one's  school  period,  they  furnish  valuable  aid  in  the  conduct  of  matiure 

■!  Moral  Inslrtution  of  Children,  p.  32. 

*  In  his  paper,  "The  Education  of  the  Will,"  in  the  Proceedings  of  the  American  InslUtUe  of 
Instruction  (1891). 


SCHOOL  RESOURCES  FOR  MORAL  TRAINING  273 

life.  They  call  into  play  the  whole  boy — intellect,  emotions,  and  will; 
but  it  is  the  will  that  receives  the  richest  training. 

There  are  other  virtues  that  spring  from  school  discipline.  If 
order  is  Heaven's  first  law,  the  first  law  of  the  school  is  obedience. 
It  must  be  secured  and  maintained,  or  successful  administration  is 
impossible.  But  when  maintained  until  it  becomes  habitual  and  instinc- 
tive with  the  pupil,  it  prepares  him  splendidly  for  the  social  duties  that 
await  him.  So,  too,  with  the  school  requirement  of  silence ;  it  is  absolutely 
essential  to  reflection,  the  very  "soil  in  which  thought  grows. "s  All 
ascent  above  our  animal  nature  arises  through  this  ability  to  hold  back 
the  mind  from  immediate  impulsive  utterance.  There  are  higher 
ranges,  also,  to  which  school  discipline  mounts.  The  school  enforces 
self-control  and  self-sacrifice,  the  subordination  of  the  lower  to  the  higher, 
of  the  corporal  to  the  spiritual.  It  exalts  self-improvement  and  makes 
it  superior  to  ease  and  present  comfort.  It  teaches  courtesy,  makes 
justice,  in  which  are  included  honesty  and  truth-telling,  an  ideal  of 
conduct,  and  induces  a  respect  for  law  as  a  means  for  righting  whatever 
is  wrong.  This  is  as  far  as  school  discipline  can  go.  For  the  culti- 
vation of  the  highest  virtues,  faith,  hope,  and  charity,  these  three,  we 
must  look  to  a  more  cogent  influence  than  the  requirements  of  school 
order  by  themselves  can  exert. 

In  what  I  have  just  been  saying  I  have  assumed  that  school  discipline 
is  judicious.  Unfortunately  this  cannot  always  be  predicated  of  the 
school.  One  reason  for  this  is  the  fact  that  often  teachers  are  not 
clear  in  their  views  of  the  motives  to  which  they  can  safely  appeal.  On 
this  point  I  have  two  simple  suggestions  to  make. 

The  first  is,  that  those  motives  should  be  appealed  to  in  children 
which  are  operative  throughout  the  whole  period  of  childhood,  youth, 
and  maturity,  and  not  those  which  are  put  off  with  other  childish  things. 
President  Eliot  in  one  of  his  addresses  has  dwelt  interestingly  on  this 
thought.^  The  old  way,  he  points  out,  was  simple  enough.  It  relied 
on  a  highly  stimulated  emulation  and  the  fear  of  school  penalty.  But 
after  a  time  these  fail  to  be  effective;  the  big  boy  and  girl  outgrow 
such  restraints  even  before  schooldays  end.  Then  a  new  set  of  motives 
must  be  stimulated,  and  the  break  in  continuity  is  disastrous.  By 
preference,  therefore,  permanent  motives  should  be  rehed  upon  from 
beginning  to  end,  that  habits  of  right  conduct  may  be  formed  through 
the  recurrence  of  similar  emotions,  leading  up   to  similar  volitions. 

5  W.  T.  Harris,  "Moral  Education  in  Common  Schools,"  in  the  Proceedings  of  American  Institute 
of  Instruction  (1884). 

''  In  his  paper,  "The  Unity  of  Educational  Reform,"  in  the  Proceedings  of  the  American  Institute 
of  Instruction  (1894). 


274  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

Such  permanent  motives  are  prudence,  love  of  approbation  of  persons 
respected  or  beloved,  self-respect  and  shame,  pleasure  in  discovery, 
activity,  and  achievement,  delight  in  beauty,  strength,  and  grace,  and 
the  love  both  of  power  and  of  possessions  as  giving  powder.  "Any  of 
these  motives  may  be  overdeveloped,  but  in  moderation  they  are  all 
good,  and  they  are  available  from  infancy  to  old  age." 

The  other  suggestion  about  discipline  is  this:  Teachers  in  their 
moral  training  must  be  careful  to  deal  with  pupils  not  altogether  in 
masses,  but  chiefly  as  individuals.  They  should  be  no  less  wise  than 
the  milliner  and  the  dressmaker.  The  hat  and  the  dress  are  fitted  to 
the  wearer  in  view  of  her  height,  her  complexion,  her  age,  and  other 
personal  characteristics.  With  like  care  appeals  must  be  addressed  to 
the  specific  child  in  order  to  secure  in  that  child  the  desired  moral 
activity.  Hence  the  greatest  help  comes  to  the  pupil  when  he  is  alone 
with  the  teacher  and  his  self-interest  is  strongly  awakened.  The  annoy- 
ing "cases  of  discipline,"  therefore,  are  veritable  opportunities  for 
moral  training;  and  by  so  treating  them  the  teacher  can  make  "the 
desert  blossom  as  the  rose."  But  as  an  equipment  for  such  effort  the 
teacher  needs  to  have  acquaintance  with  child-nature.  Concerning 
children  in  general  much  is  now  on  record  as  a  result  of  a  decade  of  child- 
study.  We  know  something  of  the  moral  content  of  the  minds  of  young 
children,  and  a  little  less  of  the  important  field  of  adolescence.  But  the 
best  knowledge  and  that  most  available  for  use  in  moral  training  comes 
less  from  reading  than  from  personal  observation;  it  is  hand-picked 
fruit. 

Just  now  I  intimated  that  the  cultivation  of  the  highest  range  of 
virtues  demands  a  more  compelling  force  than  either  the  moral  aspects 
of  study  or  the  round  of  school  discipline  can  exert.  Such  a  power  is 
resident  in  all  our  best  schools.  It  is  simply  the  personal  character  of 
the  teacher.  What  instruction  in  ethics,  whether  systematic  or  inci- 
dental, cannot  do,  what  discipline  can  do  only  partially  and  temporarily, 
is  often  done  and  done  for  all  time  by  the  personality  of  the  teacher. 
Some  of  the  elements  of  such  a  character  are  not  far  to  seek.  Sincerity 
is  one.  Moral  earnestness  is  another.  Control  of  temper  and  self- 
poise,  an  "abiding  cheer"  and  a  sunny  disposition,  tact  and  discretion, 
justice  mingled  with  love,  firmness  and  gentleness — all  have  a  place. 
And  more  of  these  are  dependent  upon  our  will,  on  our  care  of  health 
and  restraint  upon  ambitions  than  we  often  think.  But  most  of  all 
depends  upon  the  teacher's  attitude  toward  his  work.  "If,  in  con- 
sidering the  moral  aspect  of  it,  he  dwells  too  much  on  the  responsibilities 
which  it  imposes,  his  work  is  apt  to  want  spring  and  spontaneity;  whereas, 


SCHOOL  RESOURCES  FOR  MORAL  TRAINING        275 

if,  without  ignoring  his  responsibility,  he  dwells  rather  on  the  richness  of 
his  opportunity,  his  work  will  have  an  inspiring  quality  that  will  greatly 
increase  its  effectiveness. "^  Those  of  us  who  are  teachers  should  think 
of  ourselves  as  dressers  in  a  mental  and  moral  vineyard,  as  under- 
shepherds  of  the  Lord's  little  ones,  having  for  our  business  and  our 
privilege  to  lead  them  into  green  pastures  by  the  sides  of  refreshing 
streams.  We  should  throw  into  our  prosaic  tasks  the  poetry  of  pure 
and  holy  motive.  Then  shall  it  be  nobly  said  of  our  boys  and  girls,  as 
was  observed  of  Rugby  boys  in  the  days  of  Dr.  Arnold:  "Moral  thought- 
fulness  is  their  chief  characteristic." 

There  is  one  more  word  which  ought  to  be  spoken  in  this  connection 
— one  which  should  be  directed  straight  at  the  heart  of  every  teacher. 
Would  you  make  your  life  fruitful  in  moral  blessing  through  its  touch 
upon  the  throbbing  hearts  of  your  boys  and  girls  ?  The  secret  of  the 
process  is  sympathy.  Sympathy!  This  is  the  philosopher's  stone  that 
in  the  schoolroom,  as  everywhere,  changes  base  metal  into  gold — the 
pure  gold  of  moral  character. 

'  John  Tetlow,  "School  Instruction  in  Morals  and  Manners,"  in  the  Proceedings  of  the  A  merican 
Institute  0}  Instruction  (1890). 


RELIGIOUS  TEACHING  IN  THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 
PROFESSOR  HERMAN  H.  HORNE,  Ph.D., 

DARTMOUTH   COLLEGE,   HANOVER,   NEW   HAMPSHIRE 

I  wish  first  to  draw  a  distinction  that  really  exists  between  "religious 
teaching"  and  religion.  Religious  teaching  has  for  its  object  the  knowl- 
edge on  the  part  of  the  pupils  of  certain  religious  truths.  Religion  itself 
is  a  life  in  God.  The  one  is  formal  and  intellectual;  the  other  is  real 
and  vital.  With  this  distinction  in  mind,  I  wish  to  defend  this  thesis: 
what  the  public  schools  under  our  form  of  government  need  is  not 
teachers  of  rehgion  but  religious  teachers,  not  religious  instruction  but 
religious  living,  not  "rehgious  teaching"  but  teaching  religiously. 

To  show,  first,  our  public  schools  do  not  need  religious  teaching. 
There  is  a  historical  reason.  A  nation  must  respect  its  history  as  men 
respect  their  parents.  During  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
when  the  religious  sects  began  to  multiply,  the  teaching  of  religion  was 
taken  out  of  the  public  schools.  This  was  done  that  no  religious  sect 
might  propagate  its  tenets  through  the  school  influence,  that  the  birth- 
right of  liberty  of  conscience  of  Americans  might  not  be  infringed,  that 
the  cause  of  a  sound  and  various  learning  suffer  not  at  the  hands  of 
denominationalism,  and  that  society  might  have  in  its  midst  at  least 
one  unifying  educative  agency.  These  historical  reasons  are  still  potent 
today. 

In  the  case  of  America,  there  is  a  governmental  reason  for  the 
absence  of  anything  like  religious  instruction  in  our  public  schools.  Our 
form  of  government  provides  for  the  separation  of  church  and  state,  and 
at  the  same  time  for  the  public  education  of  all  youth.  To  put  rehgion 
into  the  curriculum  of  the  public  school  would  contradict  the  principle 
of  the  separation  of  church  and  state.  To  say  that  the  public  school 
ought  not  to  exist  if  it  does  not  teach  religion  is  to  contradict  the  prin- 
ciple upon  which  our  national  system  of  public  education  is  founded. 

There  is  also  a  social  reason.  The  democracy  would  suffer  by  the 
attempt  to  teach  religion  in  the  public  schools,  in  that  certain  elements 
in  society  would  at  once  withdraw  their  support  from  a  government  no 
longer  religiously  free.  Today  the  public  school  is  the  great  preserver 
of  that  homogeneity  in  society  necessary  to  a  democracy.  It  would 
cease  to  be  so  the  moment  it  began  to  teach  religion.  It  would  not 
subserve  the  best  interests  of  the  democracy  for  all  Roman  Catholics 
to  be  withdrawn  from  the  public  schools  and  taught  in  the  parochial 

276 


RELIGIOUS  TEACHING  IN  THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS       277 

schools.  This  would  occur  if  any  form  of  Protestantism  were  taught 
in  the  public  schools;  and  justifiably  so,  for  it  is  not  right  to  tax  a  Catholic 
father  in  a  religiously  free  country  to  teach  his  son  Protestant  doctrine. 
Neither  would  it  be  right  to  tax  a  Protestant  father  to  teach  his  son  some 
other  form  of  Protestantism  than  his  own.  Needless  is  it  to  refer  to 
the  attitude  of  the  great  unchurched  elements  in  America. 

Further,  a  religious  reason  also  exists.  It  is  in  the  interest  of  religion 
that  many  people  are  wanting  the  schools  to  teach  religion.  Two  things 
are  to  be  said  here:  (i)  The  demand  itself  is  impossible  of  fulfilment, 
for  religion  cannot  be  taught.  Religion  is  a  life  to  be  quickened,  not 
a  system  to  be  learned.  To  intellectualize  religion  is  to  devitalize  it. 
Religion  less  the  quality  of  life  is  theology ;  as  morality  less  the  quality 
of  life  is  ethics.  The  sciences  of  theology  and  ethics  can  be  taught;  the 
experiences  of  religion  and  morality  cannot  be  taught.  "  In  fact,  a 
fallacy  underlies  the  phrase,  'teaching  religion.'  Strictly  speaking, 
religion  cannot  be  taught ;  it  can  only  be  imparted.  Religion  is  '  the  life 
of  God  in  the  soul  of  man,'  and  life  is  not  inculcated  but  inspired."  (2) 
Perhaps  the  interest  in  religion  which  we  all  feel  can  be  served  by  the 
public  school  in  a  more  excellent  way  than  by  teaching  the  truths  of 
religion. 

There  is  also  a  natural  reason  for  not  teaching  reHgious  truths  in  the 
public  schools.  There  is  no  available  text  embodying  the  essential 
universal  truths  of  religious  experience.  There  is  a  Physics,  a  Chemis- 
try, a  Biology;  a  Mathematics,  a  Literature,  a  History;  but  there  is  not 
similarly  a  Theology.  But  someone  will  say:  Why  not  take  the  Bible  as 
it  is  and  teach  that  as  a  religious  text  ?  This  proposition  gives  us  every 
difl&culty  at  once.  The  Bible  "as  it  is"  in  its  manifold  versions  cannot 
be  found  by  the  modern  school  board.  And  the  texts  that  it  contains 
are  the  bases  of  all  the  religions  of  the  western  world.  The  Bible  is 
many  things  to  many  men  of  many  minds.  I  am  not  exaggerating  the 
practical  difficulties  of  this  subject. 

What  is  the  proper  place  and  use  of  the  Bible  in  the  public  schools  ? 
A  few  things  are  clear.  A  fairly  familiar  knowledge  of  the  Bible  is 
essential  to  that  broad  culture  of  man  which  it  is  the  function  of  educa- 
tion to  give.  The  Bible  provides  models  of  high  grade  of  practically 
all  the  leading  forms  of  literature.  It  interprets  life  in  terms  of  the 
loftiest  ideas  possible  for  man  to  conceive.  It  announces  principles  of 
highest  ethical  and  religious  value  for  the  conduct  of  man.  Because  of 
these  things  it  is  necessary  that  in  some  way  the  life  of  growing  youth 
incorporate  the  life  of  the  Bible.  But  it  is  another  question  whether  it 
is  the  function  of  the  public  school  to  render  this  service.     This  latter 


278  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

question  today  is  essentially  a  legal  one,  however  infrequently  this  fact 
is  recognized.  As  such,  it  is  wholly  subject  to  the  power  of  public 
opinion. 

PubHc  opinion  today  is  strong,  but  not  unanimous,  in  supporting  the 
reading  of  the  Bible,  without  comment,  as  part  of  a  simple  devotional 
morning  exercise  consisting  also  of  singing  and  prayer.  This  quiet 
uplift  of  the  school  interests  into  the  eternal  world,  as  a  voluntary  exercise, 
effacing  human  distinctions  and  uniting  human  hearts  in  a  divine  life, 
will  not  lightly  be  surrendered  by  a  nation  whose  oflBicials  are  inducted 
into  ofi&ce  with  an  oath  by  the  Scriptures  and  that  stamps  upon  its 
coinage  its  trust  in  God.  To  go  farther  than  this  and  ask  that  the 
Bible  be  used  as  a  text-book  in  morals  or  even  in  literature  would  be 
good  for  morals  and  literature,  no  doubt,  but  not  for  religion,  whose 
interest  it  is  the  prime  function  of  the  Bible  to  serve.  The  teaching 
in  the  public  school,  under  any  guise,  of  the  Book  upon  which  all  the 
religious  sects  are  founded  would  end  inevitably  in  sectarian  interpre- 
tations. It  would  also  tend  to  reduce  to  the  level  of  an  ordinary  text- 
book that  Volume  of  the  Christian  religion  whose  sacredness  is  regularly 
held  to  be  essential.  The  Bible  can  retain  its  present  place  in  the  public 
school,  not  as  a  book  to  be  taught,  but  only  as  its  own  spokesman  to  the 
spiritual  life. 

If  these  things  be  true,  we  need  not  delay  to  consider  such  a  suggestion 
as  having  the  pastors  and  priests  of  the  different  religions  come  to  the 
schools,  alternately,  to  teach  religion — this  would  result  in  hopeless  con- 
fusion to  the  children,  and  in  thorough  dissatisfaction  to  the  non-religious 
patrons  of  the  school,  even  if  such  catholicity  of  co-operation  were 
itself  possible ;  nor  that  other  suggestion  that  at  stated  times  the  children 
be  dismissed  to  go  to  the  churches  of  their  parents  in  the  neighborhood 
and  there  meet  teachers  of  religion — this  would  result  in  such  grave 
problems  as  these:  How  will  the  school  methods  of  attendance,  study, 
and  discipline  be  kept  in  the  churches,  without  which  methods  we  simply 
have  a  Sunday  school  on  a  weekday  ?  Where  in  the  school  schedule  is 
there  time  for  this  period  ?  Are  not  children  already  overtaught  ?  Will 
not  this  also  teach  theology  instead  of  developing  religion  ? 

From  our  inability  to  find  a  place  for  religious  teaching  in  the  public 
schools,  it  would  be  a  non  sequitur  to  infer  that  there  is  no  place  any- 
where for  such  teaching,  or  that  such  teaching  is  unimportant.  The 
knowledge  of  religious  truth  is  good  in  itself;  it  may  lead  to  more  religious 
living,  and  its  educational  value  is  supreme.  By  the  educational  value 
of  any  subject  we  mean  its  contribution  to  the  mental  growth  and  out- 
look.    The  superiority  of  the  educational  value  of  religion  over  other 


RELIGIOUS  TEACHING  IN  THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS        279 

subjects  consists  in  the  fact  that,  while  these  relate  man  to  the  finite, 
religion  relates  him  to  the  infinite.  The  importance  of  religious  teaching 
even  for  educational  uses  is  thus  extreme,  and  the  place  for  it  is  easy  to 
find — the  natural,  the  original,  the  effective  place  for  religious  teaching  is 
in  the  home  and  in  the  church.  These  social  institutions  must  bear  their 
own  burden — the  school  cannot,  even  if  it  would,  take  it  up. 

On  the  other  hand,  our  public  schools  need  religious  teachers.  I 
do  not  mean  that  we  are  now  without  such.  The  public-school  system 
of  America  is  a  tremendous  religious  influence  in  the  life  of  the  nation. 
It  has  not,  single-handed,  regenerated  human  society,  as  some  of  its 
critics  have  seemed  to  expect  of  it ;  but  it  has  presented  us  with  the  spec- 
tacle of  a  consecrated  body  of  men,  and  particularly  women,  unsurpassed 
in  the  ages  of  human  annals  for  genuine  social  service  in  the  spirit  of 
religion.  But  my  message  here  is  one  of  cheer  and  encouragement. 
Think  not  you  are  doing  less  than  your  duty  because  you  are  not  teaching 
religion.  Only  take  care  that  you  teach  religiously,  that  whatever 
your  hands  find  to  do,  you  do  it  fervently,  as  unto  the  Lord.  By  two 
things  may  we  steady  ourselves  for  the  religious  performance  of  our 
schoolroom  task:  (i)  The  public-school  teacher,  as  every  teacher  of 
the  world's  youth,  needs  to  recognize  that  religion  is  the  most  important 
element  in  human  life.  In  religion  man  comes  into  relation  with  God, 
the  most  real  Being.  (2)  It  strengthens  the  teacher  to  remember  that 
he  and  his  pupils  alike  are  by  nature  religious.  To  seek  the  Great  Com- 
panion, the  Ideal  Person,  to  feel  at  one  with  Him,  to  think  His  thoughts — 
these  are  universal  human  aspirations.  The  youth  of  the  land  in  whom 
the  springs  of  life  are  welling  up  are  unavoidably  religious.  Human 
nature  is  built  on  the  religious  basis.  All  nations  and  all  normal  men 
are  religious,  that  is,  are  conscious  of  the  Invisible  Presence.  Hence  the 
teacher  may  be  sure  that  if  he  lets  his  life  show  forth  the  Divine  Presence, 
he  will  thereby  quicken  a  response  in  the  life  of  the  pupil.  Where  life 
thus  gives  life  the  religious  touch,  it  will  not  be  necessary  that  the  lips 
teach  the  religious  truths. 

With  the  substitution  of  the  spirit  of  religious  Hfe  for  the  letter  of 
religious  instruction  in  the  American  public-school  system,  in  contrast 
with  foreign  systems,  our  teachers  have  both  their  greater  opportunity 
and  their  weightier  responsibility.  Not  theirs  to  keep  religion  from 
being  odious  through  compulsory  instruction,  but  to  make  it  attractive 
through  contagious  examples;  not  theirs  to  keep  alive  the  spirit  when 
the  letter  killeth,  but  to  show  forth  the  spirit  when  the  letter  is  absent; 
not  theirs  to  instruct  the  intellect  with  rehgious  truth,  but  to  quicken  the 
heart  with  religious  life;  not  theirs  to  be  priests  of  a  particular  religious 
institution,  but  prophets  of  the  universal  religious  nature. 


MORAL  EFFECTS  OF  BIBLE  READING  AND  THE  LORD'S 
PRAYER  IN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

J.  REMSEN  BISHOP,  Ph.D., 

PRINCIPAL   WALNUT   HILLS   HIGH   SCHOOL,   CINCINNATI,  OHIO 

A  recent  issue  of  a  religious  journal  representing  a  great  denomina- 
tion states  that  this  journal  is  consistently  opposed  to  public  high  schools 
and  public  colleges  and  universities.  Evidently  many  religious  people 
are,  rightly  or  wrongly,  of  the  opinion  that  institutions  of  higher  learning 
independent  of  sectarian  control  tend  to  weaken  the  bonds  that  bind 
young  people  to  the  churches.  So  closely,  until  a  few  decades  ago,  had 
religious  instruction  gone  hand  in  hand  with  instruction  in  secular 
knowledge  that  they  were  apparently  inseparable.  No  attempt  was 
made  to  base  the  moral  training  of  the  school  upon  anything  else 
than  the  moral  teaching  of  the  Bible  imparted  under  the  authority  of 
some  body  of  Christians.  The  appeal  always  included  the  emotional 
element  that  made  it  religious  as  well  as  moral  in  aim.  The  popular 
view  supported  the  practice  and  found  voice  in  such  sayings  as:  "To 
educate  boys  without  religion  is  to  make  them  clever  devils."  For  the 
fundamental  directive  principles  of  conventional  morality  there  seemed 
no  sanction  but  that  of  religion  founded  upon  adherence  to  certain 
dogmatic  interpretations  of  Scripture.  The  duty  of  teaching  the  accepted 
doctrines  of  the  parents'  church  seemed  necessarily  to  rest  upon  the 
school.  Else  the  very  avoidance  of  this  teaching,  where  so  much  was 
taught  with  impressive  fervor,  would  make  religion  seem  to  the  children 
a  thing  apart  from  the  nearest  concern  of  their  daily  life.  Lack  of  inter- 
est in  religious  doctrines,  or  even  contempt  for  these  doctrines,  might 
result. 

Our  swiftly  developing  nation  afforded  no  more  striking  example  of 
sturdy  enterprise  than  in  the  movement  that  has  sown  our  land  thickly 
with  public  schools.  It  has  been  one  of  those  mighty  forward  thrusts 
that  nothing  could  stay  or  even  hinder.  Doubts,  difficulties,  objections 
were  ignored,  postponed,  or  temporarily  adjusted.  It  was  clearly  seen 
that  this  kind  of  school  can  exist  upon  one  condition  only — that  it  be 
independent  of  religious  domination.  Taxes  for  the  support  of  public 
schools  are  paid  by  Jew  and  Christian,  by  Catholic  and  Protestant  alike. 
It  was  manifestly  unjust  that  in  the  pubHc  school  the  tenets  of  one  or 
another  of  the  faiths  represented  by  the  taxpayers  should  be  taught;  to 
teach  them  all  would  be  impossible.     The  Christian  world  had  lately 

280 


MORAL  EFFECTS  OF  BIBLE  AND  PRAYER  IN  SCHOOLS    281 

rid  itself  of  extreme  forms  of  clericalism,  and  was  suspicious  of  priest- 
craft. The  simple  expedient  of  excluding  all  religious  teaching  from 
the  public  schools  was  adopted. 

With  religious  teaching  excluded,  it  became  a  question  whether  in  the 
exercises  of  the  school  there  should  remain  some  inoffensive  religious 
features  that  would  indicate  little  more  than  a  reverent  attitude  toward 
the  prevailing  religion  of  the  country.  In  the  settlement  of  this  question 
difficulties  arose  which  seemed  irremediable  except  by  a  total  exclusion 
of  religion  in  any  form  from  the  school.  With  no  such  intent  in  the  mind 
of  the  conductor  of  the  simplest  religious  exercises,  his  own  predilections 
would  appear.  The  mere  fact  that  he  belonged  to  a  certain  religious 
body  would  exert  some  influence;  the  unconscious  adoption  of  his 
mannerisms  would  constitute  a  bias.  The  child  is  impressionable  and 
imitative.  At  any  time,  when  his  psychic  state  is  favorable  to  it,  an 
impression  may  be  made  upon  his  plastic  brain  that  will  prove  indel- 
ible and  determine  certain  predilections  throughout  his  life.  Religious 
exercises  taking  the  color  of  any  particular  form  of  religion  would,  as 
it  were,  create  a  presumption  in  the  child's  mind  in  favor  of  that  form, 
and  even,  given  the  necessary  emotional  element,  win  him  to  passional 
acceptance  of  that  form. 

Evidently  in  so  vital  a  matter  as  the  particular  form  of  faith  and 
religious  observance,  regarded  by  most  people  as  the  greatest  comfort 
and  assistance  in  this  life  and  the  only  certain  avenue  to  the  heaven  of 
their  hope  after  death,  jealous  safeguarding  of  children  from  alien 
influences  would  present  itself  to  parents  as  their  most  important  duty. 
On  the  other  hand,  those  who  look  upon  all  religion  as  tyranny  in 
disguise,  benighting  and  degrading,  would  as  jealously  guard  their 
children  from  religious  impressions.  The  potent  influence  of  the 
beloved  teacher  would  be  dreaded  by  each  parent  unless  it  chanced  to 
coincide  with  his  particular  views.  The  only  possible  affirmative 
solution  of  the  problem  seems  to  be  through  a  state  religion,  acquiesced 
in  by  all  citizens,  and  therefore  forming  without  question  the  religious 
element  where  needed.  In  a  country  committed  to  the  separation  of 
Church  and  State  the  question  of  religious  teaching  in  public  schools 
leads  to  an  impasse. 

Dismissing,  then,  as  practically  impossible  in  the  public  school 
religious  ceremonies  and  rehgious  instruction  that  could  be  construed 
as  preference  in  favor  of  some  particular  form  of  Christianity,  do  we  find 
anything  in  the  way  of  religious  instruction  remaining  that  is  or  could 
be  made  acceptable  ?  Must  we  turn  our  backs  upon  the  most  potent 
factor  in  human  development  when  we  attempt  to  educate  at  public 


282  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

expense  all  the  youth  of  our  land?  Those  who  answer  yes  to  the 
query  argue  that  the  churches  are  amply  able  to  undertake,  with  parents' 
assistance,  the  spiritual  instruction  and  training  of  children.  They 
point  out  that  guilds,  sodalities,  societies,  some  of  vast  extent,  are  fiUing 
the  place  left  vacant  by  the  school  under  religious  control.  Yet  the  fact 
remains  that  in  all  large  centers  of  population,  for  nine  or  ten  months 
of  the  year,  the  school  occupies  the  lion's  share  of  the  time  and  thought 
of  the  great  majority  of  the  young  people. 

Negative  influence  is  sometimes  a  negation  that  must  be  reckoned  with. 
The  member  of  a  semi-social  religious  organization  very  possibly  might 
have  one  set  of  ideals  of  conduct  based  upon  his  religious  associations, 
and  another  set  based  upon  the  haphazard  morale  of  the  frankly  pagan 
school  of  which  he  is  a  pupil.  In  the  test  of  circumstances,  which  set 
of  ideals  would  prevail  and  determine  conduct?  Mankind  has  been 
raised  from  the  slough  of  animalism  through  the  emotional  acceptance  of 
ideals  that  have  reached  it  by  the  avenue  of  religion  and  have  been 
partially  realized  in  the  lives  of  heroes,  saints,  and  martyrs.  The  desire 
on  the  part  of  most  men  to  approximate  these  ideals  preserves,  and  is 
all  that  does  preserve,  a  fair  average  of  excellence.  Carlyle  in  his  Past 
and  Present,  commenting  upon  the  "plague-spot"  of  his  England,  says: 
"You  touch  the  focal-center  of  all  our  diseases,  of  our  frightful  nosology 
of  diseases,  when  you  lay  your  hand  on  this:  There  is  no  religion; 
there  is  no  God;  man  has  lost  his  soul  and  vainly  seeks  antiseptic  salt." 
Moral  momentum  given  by  a  prior  generation  may  carry  a  following 
generation  safely  along  the  brink  of  the  black  gulf  of  evil  impulse  that 
ever  threatens  to  ingulf  mankind.  Unless  fresh  momentum  is  obtained 
— and  religion,  as  history  proves,  is  the  only  source  of  the  moral  energy 
that  moves  the  masses  of  men — sooner  or  later  the  fall  is  inevitable. 

Ours  is  a  Bible  civilization.  Long  before  the  Book  was  to  any  great 
extent  in  the  hands  of  the  people,  priests  read  and  expounded  it.  Its 
teachings  became  the  law  of  life  and  the  inspiration  of  all  Christians. 
No  Christian  priesthood  has  ever  kept  from  the  people  those  portions  of 
the  Bible  that  affect  the  conduct  of  life.  No  formative  influence  has 
been  even  approximately  so  potent  in  fashioning  western  civilization. 
"The  Bible,"  said  Ambassador  Choate,  when  asked  his  opinion  of  the 
best  choice  of  books,  "is  the  only  book  for  thinkers,  readers,  scholars, 
and  speakers.  If  we  can  have  but  one  book,  save  us  that!"  It  is 
doubtful  whether  any  judgment  in  nominally  Christian  countries  today 
is  unbiased,  however  indirectly,  by  the  teaching  of  the  Bible.  The 
growing  revolt  against  a  selfish  and  overwhelmingly  powerful  commer- 
cialism is  traceable  to  the  teachings  of  the  Hebrew  moralists,  inter- 


MORAL  EFFECTS  OF  BIBLE  AND  PRAYER  IN  SCHOOLS   283 

preted  and  vivified  in  the  sayings  of  Jesus.  Contrast,  "What  is  a 
man  profited  if  he  shall  gain  the  whole  world  and  lose  his  own  soul," 
with  the  maxims  of  a  cynical  world-philosophy  based  upon  the  actualities 
and  not  upon  the  splendid  possibilities  of  humanity.  Mistrust  and 
hate  are  spirits  easier  to  raise  than  to  exorcise;  among  western  nations 
there  is  but  one  sufficiently  powerful  influence  to  antagonize  these  forces 
of  disintegration  and  disaster — that  is,  the  Bible. 

A  school  that  totally  ignores  the  Bible  to  which,  in  final  analysis,  all 
the  vital  principles  of  our  civilization  will  be  found  attributed,  is  a  mon- 
strosity, or,  to  take  a  milder  view,  a  temporary  expedient.  Undoubtedly 
the  exclusion  of  the  Bible  from  the  public  schools  of  our  great  western 
cities,  however  intended  by  those  who  brought  it  about,  is,  in  God's 
providence,  a  condition  preliminary  to  a  permanent  and  useful  compro- 
mise. So  impressionable  are  young  people  of  secondary-school  age,  so 
quick  are  they  to  draw  inferences  and  infer  conclusions,  that  the  reverent 
reading  of  any  book  as  a  set  daily  exercise  would  seriously  affect  them. 
The  Bible  so  read  means  to  most  youthful  hearers  the  adjustment  of 
their  moral  bearings  to  the  Bible  standard.  The  addition  of  the  Lord's 
Prayer,  recited  or  chanted,  introduces  the  element  of  prayerful  depend- 
ence upon  Deity,  the  basis  of  all  religion  with  real  dynamic  force.  With 
this  simple  ceremony  repeated  daily,  the  school  becomes  frankly  and 
openly  the  ally  of  the  Christian  church.  There  could  be  nothing  sec- 
tarian in  the  ceremony;  yet  every  boy  and  girl  present  must  feel  it  as  a 
recognition  of  religion  as  an  essential  factor  in  all  the  concerns  of  life. 
An  atmosphere  friendly  to  religious  development  is  sufficient  to  save  the 
school  from  the  monstrous  position  of  irreligion  and  from  the  harmfully 
negative  position  of  being  without  religion.  The  contention  sometimes 
urged,  that  Bible-reading  in  public  secondary  schools  is  apt  to  become 
perfunctory,  is  a  reflection  upon  the  supervisors  of  these  schools  and 
should  be  answered  by  them. 

It  remains,  in  the  short  time  left  me,  to  examine  objections  to  the 
reading  of  the  King  James  version  of  the  Scriptures  in  the  public  second- 
ary schools.  .  It  is  well  known  that  the  Roman  Catholics  prefer  the 
Douai  version,  many  variations  of  the  New  Testament  portion  of  which 
have  been  printed.  If  the  leading  spirits  of  this  great  branch  of  the  Chris- 
tian church  should  consent  to  the  general  principle  of  Bible-reading  in 
the  schools,  there  could  be  no  objection  to  an  equal  use  of  the  Douai 
version,  minus  its  annotations,  with  that  of  other  standard  versions. 
The  Jews  have  a  more  serious  objection  to  the  King  James  version,  as 
appeared  recently  in  the  protest  to  the  Board  of  Education  of  Dayton, 
Ohio,  by  Rabbi  Lepkowitz.     The  Messianic  interpretations  which  are 


284  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

found  above  the  text  of  many  portions  of  the  Old  Testament  in  the 
version  are  offensive  to  the  Jews.  In  a  Bible  for  school  use,  such  inter- 
pretations have  no  relevancy  and  should  not  appear.  Also,  in  view  of 
the  fact  that  proselytizing  influence  is  to  be  avoided  at  any  cost,  the 
readings  from  the  New  Testament  must  necessarily  be  confined  to  the 
teachings  of  Jesus,  leaving  to  the  church  and  to  the  home  the  story  of 
His  death  and  resurrection.  The  direction  of  such  matters  can  with 
perfect  safety  be  left  with  the  enlightened  Americans  who  direct  our 
schools. 

Is  there  any  more  pressing  question  before  us  today  than  this: 
How  shall  we  train  our  youth  that  they  may  become  men  and  women 
honorable  and  pure,  patient  under  affliction,  able  to  find  consolation  for 
comparative  poverty  in  the  consciousness  of  divine  approval,  convinced 
that  the  really  successful  life  is  that  of  the  man  and  woman  joyously 
content  in  an  unselfish  devotion  to  duty  ?  The  idea  that  personal 
pleasure  and  the  attainment  of  selfish  ambition  are  the  only  ends  of 
living  has  produced  in  the  young  people  of  the  growing  generation  a 
carelessness  of  higher  things  that  bodes  ill  for  the  future.  This  idea 
is  too  prevalent,  it  threatens  to  sap  the  moral  strength  of  the  nation. 
Every  counteracting  influence  is  needed,  and  needed  at  once,  that  will 
elevate  the  idea  of  personal  honor  and  persuade  that  life  is  more  than 
meat  and  that  social  climbing  is  not  so  important  as  social  content 
Let  good  moral  teaching  of  every  kind  and  by  every  innocent  device 
abound. 

The  public  school  seems  to  be  upon  the  stand  at  present  to  prove 
that  it  is  or  can  become  a  moral  as  well  as  an  intellectual  force.  The 
reverent  reading  of  the  Bible  in  some  correct  version  and  the  purposeful 
creation  of  an  atmosphere  of  Bible  morality,  and,  to  this  extent,  alliance 
with  the  churches  that  extend  and  verify  the  teaching,  might  quiet  for 
all  time  the  only  valid  objection  to  the  public  secondary  school  on  the 
score  of  its  social  influence.  The  Bible  should  be  kept  in  the  schools 
where  it  now  is  read,  by  the  combined  advocacy  of  all  who  believe  in 
Christian  civilization.  It  should  be  restored,  under  proper  safeguards, 
where  it  has  been  ousted.  The  public  secondary  schools  have  taught 
a  noble  scorn  of  cant,  hypocrisy,  and  bigotry;  they  can  and  must  teach 
faith,  hope,  and  charity.     This  they  cannot  do  without  the  Bible. 


HISTORICAL  QUESTIONS  IN  RELATION  TO  DIFFERENCES 
IN  RELIGIOUS  BELIEF 

PROFESSOR  GEORGE  E.  HORR,  D.D., 

NEWTON  THEOLOGICAL   INSTITUTION,   NEWTON   CENTRE,   MASSACHUSETTS 

Differences  as  to  religious  questions  do  not  present  an  isolated  prob- 
lem. Christian  Scientists  in  increasing  numbers  are  protesting  against 
any  instruction  in  physiology  in  the  public  schools.  Curry's  United 
States  History,  which  is  a  standard  text-book  throughout  the  southern 
states,  would  hardly  be  tolerated  in  the  public  schools  of  the  North 
because  of  its  exposition  of  the  rights  of  the  states.  Time  and  again 
professors  in  state  universities  have  been  unseated  because  their  teach- 
ings have  been  unpopular  among  the  constituency  which  supported  the 
institution  by  self-imposed  taxation.  A  general  suspicion  has  spread 
throughout  the  country  that  rich  men  who  endow  colleges  and  universi- 
ties seek  more  or  less  directly  to  dictate  the  type  of  instruction  furnished 
by  them.  However  that  may  be,  there  is  no  manner  of  doubt  that  in 
many  places  the  instruction  afforded  by  the  state  has  been  colored,  if  not 
controlled,  by  the  opinion  of  the  community.  These  things  are  cited, 
not  to  enter  into  any  argument  about  them,  but  to  show  that  the  religious 
question  is  not  isolated.  It  is  a  part  of  a  large  problem.  At  any  time 
the  principle  involved  in  all  these  questions  may  give  rise  to  an  acute 
issue.  Whether  it  is  in  reference  to  state  rights,  free  silver,  the  tariff, 
physiology,  or  the  Roman  theory  of  indulgences,  the  principle  involved 
in  these  questions  is  identical. 

Still,  it  would  be  a  great  mistake  to  infer  that,  on  the  whole,  public 
instruction  in  the  United  States  has  not  been  controlled  by  the  principle 
of  Lehrjreiheit.  One  who  collates  the  facts  will  be  surprised  at  the 
self-restraint  practiced  in  times  of  intense  pubHc  feeling  in  maintaining 
the  freedom  of  teachers.  Take  the  country  over,  there  is  probably  no 
class  of  men  who  enjoy  so  large  a  measure  of  personal  freedom  in  the 
expression  of  conviction  as  the  fraternity  of  teachers.  They  have  far 
greater  freedom  accorded  to  them  than  is  conceded  in  some  communions 
to  ministers  of  religion  in  good  denominational  standing.  The  people 
of  this  country  deserve  great  praise  for  their  loyalty  to  the  principle  of 
the  teacher's  liberty. 

When,  however,  we  touch  the  distinctively  religious  aspect  of  this 
question  we  come  upon  a  fact  that  does  not  apply  to  its  sociological 
and  economic  and  political  phases.     In  their  national  and  state  consti- 

285 


286  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

tutions  the  people  of  the  United  States  have  passed  a  self-denying  ordi- 
nance. They  have  imbedded  in  their  organic  law  the  principle  of  religious 
liberty,  of  the  separation  of  Church  and  State.  In  this  country  it  is  not 
lawful  to  use  the  power  of  the  State  to  promote  the  interests  of  any 
religious  body.  Hitherto  we  have  not  been  uniformly  loyal  to  this 
principle,  for  it  involves  far-reaching  sequences  which  were  imperfectly 
apprehended  by  many  of  the  advocates  of  the  first  amendment  to  the 
Constitution,  and  by  the  framers  of  the  state  constitutions.  Still,  there 
has  been  steady  progress  toward  action  entirely  consistent  with  the 
principle.  The  abolition  of  the  contract  Indian  schools  is  a  case  in 
point.  It  is  becoming  increasingly  difficult  to  obtain  appropriations  of 
public  money  for  sectarian  purposes.  And  there  is  a  growing  recogni- 
tion of  the  untenableness  of  the  argument  for  the  retention  of  the  reading 
of  the  Bible  in  the  public  schools,  when  there  is  respectable  opposition 
in  the  community  to  the  practice. 

From  this  point  of  view  it  is  clear  that  considerations  enter  into  the 
religious  phase  of  this  question  that  do  not  enter  into  its  other  aspects. 
The  public  schools  cannot  lawfully  be  made  the  instruments  of  advan- 
cing the  interests  of  any  church  or  sect.  If  it  is  urged  that  this  is  a 
Christian  nation,  and  that  the  people  have  a  right  to  teach  the  religion 
in  which  they  believe,  we  reply  that  this  is  a  Christian  nation  only  in  the 
vaguest  sense,  and  that,  even  if  it  were,  we  have  formally  denied  ourselves 
the  right  of  inculcating  religion.  If  it  be  urged  that  we  can  teach  Chris- 
tianity, but  no  sectarian  form  of  it,  we  reply  that  every  statement  of 
Christianity  is  sectarian  to  some  Christian  believers.  In  this  whole 
matter  we  are  very  apt  to  forget  that,  except  in  one  feature,  the  demand 
of  a  man  of  strong  and  clear  convictions  that  the  public  institutions  shall 
teach  what  he  believes,  or  of  a  church  that  the  public  institutions  shall 
teach  what  it  believes,  does  not  differ  in  principle  from  the  demand  of 
the  rich  man  that  the  university  he  has  endowed  shall  inculcate,  or  at 
least  not  antagonize,  his  economic  theories,  or  from  the  demand  of  a 
community  that  the  state  schools  shall  assist,  or  at  least  not  oppose,  the 
theories  of  the  dominant  political  party.  And  that  feature  is  this:  the 
schools  are  prevented  by  definite,  organic  and  statute  law  from  doing 
this  thing. 

In  answering,  then,  the  specific  question:  What  course  is  best  in  deal- 
ing with  historical  questions  that  involve  marked  differences  in  religious 
belief?  I  would  say,  first  of  all,  let  the  writer  or  the  teacher  set 
before  his  mind  with  great  distinctness  what  was  actually  accomplished 
in  the  period  under  consideration.  What  contributions  did  it  make 
to  civilization  ?    This  will  not  be  a  matter  of  guesswork  or  of  arbitrary 


HISTORICAL  QUESTIONS  AND  RELIGIOUS  BELIEF       287 

opinion.  It  is  registered  in  laws  and  treaties,  in  indisputable  changes 
in  government,  in  economic  conditions,  in  the  mutual  relations  of  classes, 
and  in  manners,  customs,  and  moral  standards.  For  example,  the 
results  of  the  Reformation  touching  the  Roman  church  were  crystaUized 
in  the  Council  of  Trent.  Its  findings  witness  among  other  things  to  a 
prodigious  improvement  in  the  morals  of  its  clergy  and  laity.  The  sum 
total  of  the  effect  of  the  Reformation  upon  the  political  life  of  Europe  is 
embodied  in  the  Treaty  of  Westphalia.  When  now  we  compare  the 
conditions  disclosed  in  these  documents  with  what  is  revealed  at  the 
beginning  of  the  Reformation  in  the  Fifth  Lateran  Council,  the  Treaty 
of  Cambray,  and  the  Holy  League,  we  have  evidence  that  cannot  be 
controverted,  unless  these  documents  are  forgeries,  as  to  what  the 
Reformation  had  accomplished  in  two  great  departments.  Here  we 
are  on  solid  ground.  We  are  not  dealing  with  opinions,  but  with  events, 
with  objective  concrete  changes. 

Studied  from  this  point  of  view,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  Reformation 
was  by  no  means  a  simple  phenomenon;  there  were  behind  it  vast  and 
elemental  forces.  The  intellectual  awakening  of  Europe  contributed 
to  it;  the  revolt  from  serious  scandals  and  abuses  in  the  Roman  church, 
which  purified  the  church  as  well  as  gave  Protestantism  its  initial 
impulse;  the  new  sentiment  of  nationality  struggling  for  expression; 
and  economic  changes  that  only  lately  have  been  adequately  recognized. 
These  were  causes  as  well  as  the  spiritual  doctrines  of  Luther.  The 
Reformation  is  the  bridge  from  the  decaying  life  of  feudalism  to  the  mod- 
ern world,  in  which  human  personality  and  its  rights  have  gained  a 
proper  recognition.  When  we  ask  what  contribution  the  Reformation, 
as  a  whole,  made  to  civilization,  and  buttress  the  answer  by  indisput- 
able documents,  we  occupy  the  only  proper  point  of  view  for  the  inter- 
pretation of  specific  events. 

We  make  a  great  mistake  when  we  think  that  the  large  generaliza- 
tions of  history  are  only  for  mature  students.  We  make  historical 
studies  of  value  to  the  youth  of  our  public  schools  only  as  we  treat  the 
different  periods  in  this  large  and  full  way.  One  of  the  most  encour- 
aging features  of  the  educational  movement  of  our  time  is  that  school 
histories  are  approaching  this  ideal. 

But  someone  may  say:  What  has  this  to  do  with  the  treatment  of 
historical  questions  that  involve  marked  differences  in  religious  belief? 
It  has  much  to  do  with  it.  For  by  fastening  attention  upon  what  has 
been  actually  done,  as  witnessed  by  documents  that  everywhere  are 
recognized  as  authoritative,  it  removes  the  subject-matter  as  far  as 
possible  from  the  realm  of  conjecture  and  partisan  opinion;  and,  in  the 


288  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

second  place,  it  tends  to  put  the  controversial  religious  factor  in  a  true 
perspective.  Under  this  method  of  treatment  the  things  that  loom 
large  in  the  minds  of  religious  partisans  will  often  be  discovered  to  be  of 
very  minor  importance  in  interpreting  the  significance  of  the  epoch 
under  consideration.  In  other  words,  if  the  significance  of  the  era  is 
properly  construed,  the  strongest  constraint  will  be  exercised  over  the 
mind  of  the  writer  or  teacher  to  present  such  facts  for  the  picture  as  will 
be  truly  typical.  And  the  typical  facts  will  almost  always  be  different 
from  those  that  a  reHgious  partisan  would  have  chosen. 

Let  us  apply  this  principle  to  the  most  difficult  case.  What  was  it, 
to  use  Matthew  Arnold's  expressive  phrase,  that  "set  Luther  going"? 
The  dominant  Roman  Catholic  view  is  that  Luther,  so  far  from  con- 
demning indulgences  in  the  seventy-first  of  his  famous  Ninety-Five 
Theses  which  he  nailed  on  the  door  of  the  Wittenberg  church,  pronounced 
a  curse  on  anyone  who  should  question  their  value.  He  was  led  to 
write  these  theses  by  Tetzel's  unquestionable  perversion  of  the  true 
Roman  doctrine,  and  in  part  by  the  hostility  of  the  Augustinians  to  the 
Dominicans.  The  language  of  his  submission  to  the  Pope,  six  months 
after  the  posting  of  the  theses,  shows  that  he  had  no  doctrinal  difference 
with  the  Roman  authorities.  After  he  had  submitted  his  case  to  the 
Pope,  and  it  was  decided  against  him,  he  had  to  choose  one  of  two 
courses:  he  must  acquiesce  in  the  judgment,  or  abuse  and  defy  the 
court;  and  he  chose  the  latter.  The  Protestant  view,  in  substance,  is 
that  Luther  on  his  visit  to  Rome  was  disillusioned  as  to  the  moral  char- 
acter of  the  papacy ;  that  he  experienced  an  evangelical  conversion ,  that 
he  was  aroused  to  a  holy  indignation  at  the  preaching  of  Tetzel;  and 
that  his  subsequent  career  was  the  legitimate  outcome  of  his  spiritual 
experience  and  conviction. 

Now  this  is  intensely  interesting  to  religious  disputants,  but  I  think 
we  shall  have  to  admit  that  the  whole  matter  is  in  the  difficult  and  obscure 
realm  of  human  motives,  and  that  the  settlement  of  this  question  is  not 
nearly  so  important  for  an  understanding  of  the  Reformation  as  a  stage 
in  the  evolution  of  civilization  as  many  have  supposed.  At  the  best, 
Luther's  motive  was  only  a  spark  to  an  immense  heap  of  explosive  and 
inflammable  material.  A  writer  or  teacher,  however,  who  has  such  a  per- 
spective of  the  Reformation  as  makes  it  necessary  for  him  to  probe 
deeply  into  Luther's  consciousness  will  not  find  it  difficult  to  discover  a 
common  ground  between  the  Roman  Catholic  and  the  Protestant  view, 
in  the  opposition  of  Luther  to  Tetzel's  perversion  of  the  theory  of 
indulgences,  and  in  his  hostility  to  the  undoubted  immoralities  preva- 
lent in  the  church,  as  witnessed  by  the  findings  of  the  Council  of  Trent. 


HISTORICAL  QUESTIONS  AND  RELIGIOUS  BELIEF       289 

But  another  course  in  the  treatment  of  such  a  matter  is  entirely 
practicable,  and  if  the  pupils  are  sufficiently  mature,  it  may  be  eminently 
judicious,  and  that  is  to  state  frankly  that  this  is  a  point  as  to  which 
Roman  Catholics  and  Protestants  differ,  and,  having  referred  the  pupils 
to  the  most  prominent  writers  on  each  side,  leave  them  to  form  their 
own  opinions. 

But  someone  says:  "I  cannot  see  that  the  Reformation  can  be  con- 
strued in  any  way  that  does  not  make  the  theological,  doctrinal  interest 
primary.  I  do  not  believe  that  any  account  of  that  period  is  worth 
the  paper  on  which  it  is  written,  or  the  breath  in  which  it  is  spoken, 
that  does  not  expose  the  errors  of  Rome  and  exalt  the  true  doctrine  as 
proclaimed  by  Luther.  If  that  is  not  presented  to  the  pupils  of  our 
public  schools,  we  are  false  to  the  truth."  In  one  form  or  other  that 
objection  is  urged  very  strongly. 

In  reference  to  this  position  two  considerations  should  be  taken  into 
account.  First,  that  history  is  not  an  exact  science;  it  may  be  written 
in  many  different  ways,  and  lead  to  many  divergent  conclusions.  Facts, 
like  figures,  can  be  manipulated  to  prove  what  the  man  who  handles 
them  wishes.  Relation  and  perspective  are  all-important  even  when  the 
facts  are  impeccable.  Secondly,  under  our  system  of  the  separation  of 
Church  and  State,  the  price  of  giving  any  instruction  in  the  empirical 
sciences  is  that  the  susceptibilities  and  prejudices  of  the  minority  of  our 
citizens  shall  not  be  wounded  by  instruction  trenching  upon  religious 
matters.  That  is  the  condition  under  which  these  subjects  can  be 
taught  in  the  schools  at  all.  The  very  existence  of  the  schools  depends 
upon  cordial  recognition  and  acquiescence  in  the  constitutional  limita- 
tion. The  argument  that  Protestants  can  teach  their  view  of  a  contro- 
verted period  because  they  believe  it  to  be  true,  is  sufficiently  met  by 
the  question  whether  or  not  they  are  willing  to  have  Roman  Catholics, 
in  case  they  gain  the  upper  hand  in  the  State,  inculcate  in  the  pubhc 
schools  views  which  they  conscientiously  and  firmly  believe  to  be  true  ? 

Because  of  these  two  considerations,  that  history  itself  is  an  empirical 
science,  and  an  interpretation  of  history  cannot,  in  the  nature  of  the 
case,  rest  upon  the  same  basis  of  certainty  as  the  teachings  of  the  exact 
sciences,  and  because  there  are  limitations  in  our  organic  law  to  religious 
partisan  inculcation,  no  matter  how  true  the  adherents  of  a  sect  may 
deem  it  to  be,  this  sort  of  instruction  must  be  excluded  from  the  public 
schools. 

And  as  between  the  alternative  of  omitting  instruction  altogether 
in  modem  history,  and  suffering  the  schools  to  be  the  instruments  of 
instruction  that  is  rigorously  objected  to  by  a  respectable  minority,  I 
have  not  the  slightest  hesitation  in  choosing  the  former  course. 


290  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

But  I  do  not  believe  that  any  such  choice  is  necessary.  The  large 
view  of  any  period  of  history,  which  construes  its  significance  in  the  light 
of  its  contribution  to  advancing  civilization,  puts  the  religious  factor 
in  the  place  in  which  it  belongs.  That  place  is  seldom  the  one  to  which 
the  religious  sectary  would  assign  it,  but  it  usually  is  a  place  which 
robs  it  of  its  partisan  heat  and  rancor.  The  man  of  our  argumentative 
theories  who  objects  to  having  universally  recognized  facts,  like  the  out- 
come of  the  Civil  War,  or  the  fortunes  of  specific  battles,  taught  in  the 
public  schools,  because  such  facts  would  make  against  his  views  or 
prejudices,  is  largely  a  creation  of  the  imagination.  The  average  sen- 
sible man,  Romanist  or  Protestant,  is  the  one  with  whom  our  schools 
have  to  deal  through  their  children.  And  personal  experience  on  a 
school  committee  that  deals  with  some  very  important  phases  of  this 
problem  leads  me  to  believe  that,  as  a  rule,  neither  Roman  Catholics 
nor  Protestants  are  unreasonable  or  inclined  to  take  doctrinaire  posi- 
tions on  these  matters.  They  see  the  inevitable  limitations  of  our  pubHc- 
school  system,  and  they  simply  demand  that  neither  openly  nor  surrep- 
titiously shall  the  public  schools  be  made  the  instrument  for  advancing 
the  interests  of  any  religious  party. 

Our  schools  have  the  most  to  fear  from  those  good  men,  both  Roman 
Catholics  and  Protestants,  who,  because  they  see  that  the  schools  might 
be  made  powerful  religious  agencies,  wish  them  to  be  made  so.  Nothing 
is  more  important  at  this  juncture  than  the  frank  recognition  of  the  fact 
that  by  the  organic  law  of  the  national  Constitution,  and,  as  I  believe, 
by  the  genius  of  Christianity  itself,  working  through  free  institutions,  our 
schools  are  prevented  from  occupying  this  field.  They  are  to  be  the 
schools  of  the  whole  people,  supported  by  them,  and  realizing  their 
common  purpose. 


DISCUSSION 
JOSEPH  S.  WALTON,  Ph.D., 

PRINCIPAL  OF  THE  GEORGE  SCHOOL,  GEORGE  SCHOOL,  PENNSYLVANIA 

We  assume  that  the  student  approaches  all  debatable  points  in  reli- 
gious as  well  as  political  history  from  the  vantage  ground  of  previous 
study,  and  we  further  assume  that  this  approach  is  fairly  free  from 
dogma  or  prejudice  or  partisanship.  If  the  Enghsh  rights  of  colonial 
taxation  are  examined  in  this  spirit  and  under  this  preparation,  the  stu- 
dent is  relieved  from  imbibing  the  poisonous  influence  that  has  too  often 
permeated  the  teaching  of  history  in  the  secondary  schools,  an  influence 
which  leads  them  to  disparage  the  worth  and  value  of  the  English 
people.  Happily,  of  late  on  this  mooted  point  the  American  and  English 
teachers  have  found  a  common  ground  of  truth  on  which  they  may  stand 
when  they  teach  this  subject.  The  same  is  becoming  manifest  in  the 
history  of  the  civil  struggle  for  slavery  and  state  sovereignty  which  once 
threatened  the  very  foundations  of  American  democracy.  In  teaching 
this  subject  honestly  and  frankly  it  has  not  been  found  necessary  to 
leave  certain  salient  facts  untaught  or  to  shun  them  as  a  skeleton  in  a 
nation's  closet.  Neither  has  it  been  found  necessary  to  apologize  for 
the  one  side  and  at  the  same  time  denounce  the  other.  The  truth  of 
history  does  not  find  it  necessary  to  examine  the  detail  of  any  one  side 
and  plead  for  that  at  the  expense  of  the  other.  The  heat  of  political  life 
and  prejudice  has  so  far  abated  as  to  permit  the  modern  teacher  to  Hght 
the  torch  of  truth  in  the  midst  of  these  events. 

May  we  not,  then,  ask  the  question:  How  far  into  the  debatable 
points  of  religious  history  is  it  wise  to  lead  the  student  of  secondary 
public  schools  ?  Should  we,  because  of  an  overwrought  fear  that  some 
fanatical  mind  without  historical  background  may  take  offense,  decline 
to  teach  the  pivotal  movements  of  the  world's  history  ?  Or,  rather, 
should  we  not  assume  that  an  honest,  frank,  and  truthful  treatment  is 
the  only  wise  course  ? 

The  Bible  in  literature  and  the  Bible  as  literature  claims  a  place  in 
the  education  of  every  American  child;  that  position  is  the  true  one 
which  refuses  to  ignore  the  existence  of  the  sacred  volume  as  stren- 
uously as  it  refuses  to  exalt  its  authority  into  a  fetish,  that  is  free  to  exam- 
ine its  influence  in  history  and  reveal  its  place  in  modern  life,  and  to 
trace  its  influence  upon  the  mind  of  a  man  who,  like  Ruskin,  has  given 

291 


292  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

direction  to  the  thought  of  his  day.  Like  the  courses  in  modern  and 
ancient  classics,  the  Bible  as  a  classic  in  English  literature  merits  at 
least  the  same  treatment  as  the  others,  which  in  the  very  least  measure 
claims  a  hearing  and  a  reading. 

In  approaching  the  Lutheran  Reformation  nothing  is  gained  by 
evasion  or  misrepresentation.  The  simplicity  of  the  situation  honestly 
taught  will  not  damage  any  religious  faith  that  stands  on  a  permanent 
foundation.  If  the  student  is  already  familiar  with  man's  struggle  to 
know  God,  with  his  yearning  to  come  into  intimate  relationship  with 
that  which  alone  can  complete  his  nature;  if  psychologically  he  has 
learned  that  something  more  is  needed  than  environment,  something 
more  than  a  sound  body,  something  more  than  a  keen  intellect,  or  even 
tender  emotions  and  a  strong  will;  if  he  has  learned  these  things  and 
followed  the  evidence  of  these  facts  historically,  he  is  prepared  to 
approach  such  debatable  points  as  the  Lutheran  Reformation.  If  he 
has  some  comprehension  of  the  paganistic  struggles  to  symbolize  God 
and  approach  Him  with  a  burnt-offering  that  shall  be  a  sweet  odor  in 
His  nostrils,  noting  the  wonderful  struggle  to  find  the  one  true  God, 
realizing  that  unity,  as  he  knows  it,  arose  out  of  the  labyrinth  of  many 
gods  and  came  slowly  into  the  conception  of  the  unity  and  spirituality 
of  God,  then  he  can  the  better  grasp  the  history  that  sets  forth  man's 
first  recognition  of  God  the  Lawgiver,  and  later  of  God  the  Father — 
Father  of  a  chosen  people,  of  the  nation,  of  the  family,  and  finally  of  the 
individual. 

As  the  student  knows  all  this,  he  comes  into  a  position  to  appreciate 
the  fact  that  the  fulfilment  and  completion  of  the  knowledge  of  God  the 
Father  was  made  manifest  by  the  teachings  of  His  Son,  who  claimed 
that  He  came  to  show  the  way  to  the  Father.  Then  the  student  is 
enabled,  with  this  interpretation,  to  follow  the  history  of  the  Christian 
church  as  it  determined  how  a  knowledge  of  the  Father  through  the  Son 
might  be  accomplished ;  whether,  as  Paul  had  often  raised  the  question, 
it  was  by  works  or  faith ;  until  finally  the  doctrine  of  merit  was  not  only 
thoroughly  wrought  out,  but  was  restricted  and  defined  and  burdened 
with  the  thought  that  not  only  the  completion  of  the  life  that  is,  but 
the  securing  of  the  life  that  is  to  be,  was  a  matter  of  purchase,  a  matter 
of  price ;  and  that  Luther  arose  and  declared  that  it  was  not  a  matter  of 
purchase,  not  a  matter  of  price,  not  a  matter  of  works  only,  but  one  of 
faith — free,  the  gift  of  God. 

Consequently  he  may  approach  these  problems  with  the  torch  of 
truth  and  do  no  violence  to  the  genius  of  democratic  institutions.    Indeed, 


DISCUSSION  293 

it  is  unwise  purposely  to  avoid  such  topics.  If  taught  in  the  spirit  of 
fairness  and  honesty,  no  denomination  will  suffer.  If,  however,  they 
are  falsely  taught  or  ignored,  the  safety  of  a  free  government  is  exposed, 
partisan  prejudices  are  engendered,  and  the  student's  capacity  eventually 
to  fulfil  his  civic  responsibility  is  weakened. 


VI I .    ELEMENTARY  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 


RELIGIOUS  TRAINING  IN  THE  GERMAN  SCHOOLS 
PROFESSOR  LEVI  SEELEY,  Ph.D., 

STATE   NORMAL   SCHOOL,   TRENTON,   NEW  JERSEY 

The  problem  of  religious  education  in  Germany  is  quite  different 
from  that  of  our  own  country,  and  its  solution  does  not  involve  so  many 
intricate  phases  as  those  that  confront  us.  Having  an  established 
church  under  state  domination — Lutheran  in  most  of  the  northern  states, 
and  Catholic  in  the  southern — and  having  but  fev^^  religious  sects,  it  is 
easy  to  provide  schools  denominational  in  character.  The  law,  however, 
provides  that  no  child  can  be  excluded  from  the  schools  on  account  of 
religious  belief,  nor  can  he  be  compelled  to  remain  at  religious  instruc- 
tion that  is  contrary  to  the  faith  in  which  he  is  being  brought  up.  To 
meet  such  cases  as  fall  outside  of  either  of  the  two  great  faiths,  Catholic 
and  Lutheran,  schools  must  be  established  wherever  there  are  twenty- 
five  children  of  any  given  faith  and  teachers  of  that  faith  provided  by 
the  government.  Where  there  are  fewer  than  that  number,  parents 
must  see  to  it  that  their  children  receive  religious  instruction  outside  of 
the  school  by  teachers  approved  by  the  government.  In  no  case  may 
religious  instruction  be  neglected.  Next  to  Catholics  and  Lutherans, 
the  Jews  have  the  greatest  number  of  separate  schools,  though  there  are 
a  few  schools  for  other  religious  bodies.  Thus  the  division  of  school 
funds,  the  crucial  point  in  this  question,  becomes  a  comparatively  simple 
matter. 

The  Catholics  have  always  insisted  upon  the  necessity  of  religious 
education,  and  the  Protestants  of  Germany  accept  that  principle  as 
unreservedly  as  the  Catholics.  All  recognize  that  religion  is  a  universal 
principle  in  mankind,  that  no  race  of  people  exists  that  has  not  some 
form  of  worship,  however  crude  or  defective,  and  that  this  inherent 
demand  needs  developing  and  training  as  truly  as  every  other  side  of 
man.  "The  German  holds  that  morality  cannot  be  taught  apart  from 
religion,  and  that  religious  teaching  to  be  effective  must  be  dogmatic." 
Therefore  the  schools  provide  for  dogmatic  instruction. 

I  once  attended  a  great  German  national  teachers'  meeting  at  Halle, 
the  seat  of  Francke's  celebrated  "Orphan  Asylum"  and  the  place  where 
the  idea  of  special  preparation  for  teachers  was  carried  out  more  than 

294 


RELIGIOUS  TRAINING  IN  THE  GERMAN  SCHOOLS      295 

three  hundred  years  ago.  The  purpose  of  the  meeting,  like  that  of  our 
National  Educational  Association,  was  to  consider  the  educational 
interests  of  the  country.  I  was  struck  with  the  fact  that  the  central 
theme  of  discussion  was  religious  instruction.  There  seemed  to  be  no 
dissenting  voice  to  the  proposition  that  all  pedagogy  hinges  upon  reli- 
gion, and  that  this  must  be  the  main  subject  of  the  curriculum.  Quite 
in  harmony  with  the  same  idea  is  the  arrangement  of  the  daily  program 
in  all  schools,  which  places  religious  instruction  at  the  best  period  of  the 
day,  the  first. 

It  may  be  remarked  that  the  discussion  of  the  subject  of  religious 
training  has  never  had  a  very  large  place  in  the  programs  of  our  educa- 
tional gatherings.  At  our  last  National  Educational  Association  meeting 
in  Boston,  however,  the  Council  gave  this  question  an  important  place, 
and  it  was  considered  by  some  of  our  most  eminent  educators.  Besides 
this,  our  educational  journals  are  giving  it  an  increased  amount  of  space, 
showing  that  the  subject  is  awakening  new  interest  in  this  country  and 
its  importance  is  being  recognized.  Still  further,  one  of  our  great 
secular  universities  proposes  to  offer  courses  in  the  training  of  Sunday- 
school  teachers. 

The  idea  of  religious  training  in  the  German  schools  is  not  a  new 
theory.  Before  the  state  assumed  responsibility  for  education,  the 
church  instructed  those  she  was  able  to  reach  and  care  for  in  the  doc- 
trines of  religion  and  the  duties  of  life.  When  Protestantism  arose,  her 
leaders  laid  no  less  stress  upon  the  same  idea.  The  first  Protestant 
schoolbook  contained  the  Lord's  Prayer,  the  Ten  Commandments,  and 
Luther's  Catechism  for  its  principal  material.  In  1763,  when  Frederick 
the  Great  promulgated  his  general  school  regulation,  assuming  the  duty 
of  the  education  of  the  people  on  the  part  of  the  state,  even  that  great 
free-thinking  monarch,  and  follower  of  Voltaire,  required  that  religion 
should  be  taught  in  the  schools  and  urged  that  the  school-teacher  more 
than  others  should  be  diligent  in  the  practice  of  godliness,  well  grounded 
in  the  knowledge  of  the  Bible,  and  a  true  follower  of  the  divine  Master, 
in  order  that  by  life  and  teaching  he  might  prepare  his  pupils  for  Chris- 
tian living.  He  stipulated,  however,  that  "children  cannot  be  com- 
pelled to  remain  at  religious  instruction  which  is  contrary  to  the  faith 
in  which  they  are  being  brought  up."  Every  monarch,  from  Frederick 
the  Great  to  William  II.,  has  fully  indorsed  the  same  idea  and  carried 
it  out  to  the  letter.  All  parties  are  satisfied,  and  the  question  is  settled 
for  all  time.  There  is  no  German  educator,  whatever  may  be  the 
shade  of  his  religious  belief,  that  does  not  consider  religious  training 
as  absolutely  essential  to  a  well-developed   system  of  pedagogy,  and 


296  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

necessary  to  an  all-around  development  of  character  and  preparation 
for  life. 

Let  us  now  turn  our  attention  to  the  course  of  study  by  means  of 
which  these  ends  are  to  be  attained.  This  is  the  course  for  the  elemen- 
tary schools,  which,  it  will  be  borne  in  mind,  is  eight  years  in  length.  It 
is  required  that  four  to  five  hours  a  week  shall  be  devoted  to  religious 
instruction  throughout  the  entire  eight  years,  four  hours  for  the  first 
two  years  and  five  for  the  remaining  six  years — more  time  than  is  devoted 
to  any  other  subject  of  the  curriculum.     The  course  is  as  follows: 

I.  Sacred  history.  Half  of  each  of  the  first  two  years  is  devoted  to 
Old  Testament  history,  and  half  to  the  New  Testament.  The  teacher 
tells  the  story  of  the  creation,  paradise,  the  fall,  Cain  and  Abel,  the  flood, 
the  call  of  Abraham,  Abraham  and  Lot,  temptation  of  Abraham,  Joseph's 
dream,  Joseph  sold,  the  first  visit  of  Joseph's  brethren  to  Egypt,  the 
revelation  of  Joseph's  identity  to  his  brethren,  etc.,  etc.  The  stories  are 
told  in  simple  language  so  as  to  be  understood  by  the  children,  and,  as 
far  as  possible,  in  Bible  language.  In  the  same  way  the  story  of  the 
birth,  childhood,  manhood,  miracles,  life,  death,  and  resurrection  of 
Jesus  is  told.  In  the  following  years  the  chief  characters  and  events  of 
all  periods  of  Sacred  history  are  systematically  studied.  The  growth 
of  the  church  in  apostolic  times,  the  history  of  the  early  Fathers,  the 
development  of  the  church  through  the  Middle  Ages,  the  introduction  of 
Christianity  into  Germany,  Luther  and  the  Reformation  are  discussed 
and  explained  as  far  as  may  be.  When  possible,  the  children  are  taken 
to  points  of  historic  interest  and  taught  the  lesson  on  the  spot.  I  once 
made  a  seven-day  summer  trip  with  fifty  boys  during  which  we  visited 
Katterfeld  where  St.  Boniface  founded  the  first  Christian  monastery  in 
Germany;  the  Wartburg,  where  Luther  translated  the  Holy  Scripture; 
and  other  places  of  historic  interest  in  connection  with  the  Reformation. 
The  lessons  were  made  most  vivid  by  the  teachers,  and  the  associa- 
tions of  the  spot  on  which  the  event  took  place  could  not  fail  to  make 
a  deep  impression  upon  the  boys.  Another  fact  connected  with  this 
summer  trip  may  be  mentioned  as  illustrating  the  practical  and  deep 
spiritual  lessons  which  the  German  teachers  always  sought  to  impart. 
Every  night  before  retiring,  boys  and  teachers  gathered  together  in  a 
group,  sang  a  hymn,  and  then  recited  an  evening  prayer.  Then  the 
whole  class  of  boys  went  to  each  teacher,  gave  him  the  hand,  and  wished 
him  "Gute  Nacht!"  I  shall  never  forget  one  beautiful  morning  in  the 
great  Thuringian  Forest,  when  a  halt  was  made,  a  hymn  sung,  and  a 
morning  prayer  offered.  In  the  solemnity  of  that  hour  I  could  under- 
stand Bryant  when  he  says: 


RELIGIOUS  TRAINING  IN  THE  GERMAN  SCHOOLS       297 

The  groves  were  God's  first  temples. 

Let  me,  at  least, 

Here,  in  the  shadow  of  His  aged  wood, 
Offer  one  hymn — thrice  happy,  if  it  find 
Acceptance  in  His  ear. 

But  to  return  to  the  course  of  study.  In  addition  to  the  historical 
work  described  there  is : 

2.  Bible-reading.  This  occurs  especially  in  the  upper  grades. 
Chapters  from  the  Psalms,  Prophets,  and  New  Testament  books  are 
read  and  studied.  Many  texts  are  committed  to  memory,  their  meaning 
having  first  been  explained.  Thus  the  children  are  made  familiar  with 
the  Holy  Word  and  fortified  with  many  passages  of  Scripture. 

3.  Sacred  songs.  These  are  taught  from  the  beginning  to  the  end 
of  the  course.  Hymns  in  most  common  use  are  learned,  each  child 
being  provided  with  a  hymn-book.  Fully  thirty  hymns  are  thoroughly 
committed  to  memory,  but  not  until  the  meaning  of  each  verse  has  been 
studied  and  explained. 

4.  Prayers.  Prayers  are  committed  to  memory,  and  each  day, 
especially  in  the  rural  districts,  the  school  is  opened  and  closed  with  a 
suitable  petition  to  the  Almighty.  Often  the  youngest  child  is  called 
upon  to  recite  the  prayer,  all  the  children  standing.  The  German  lan- 
guage abounds  in  many  beautiful  prayers,  which  cannot  fail  to  exert  a 
softening  influence  upon  the  heart.  Hence  the  supreme  wisdom  of 
teaching  them  to  the  little  children. 

5.  The  Catechism.  This  furnishes  the  basis  for  doctrinal  instruc- 
tion, in  the  evangelical  schools  Luther's  Smaller  Catechism  being  used. 
The  various  sacraments  and  church  days  are  explained  to  the  older 
children.  In  Protestant  schools  nearly  all  of  this  work  is  done  by  the 
regular  teacher,  his  course  in  the  normal  school  having  prepared  him 
for  it.  The  pastor  exercises  an  oversight  of  the  religious  instruction, 
and  for  some  months  before  confirmation  he  takes  the  class  himself 
outside  of  school  hours  in  order  to  prepare  them  for  that  solemn  event. 
I  shall  speak  of  this  later.  In  Catholic  schools,  Biblical  history  is  under- 
taken by  the  regular  teacher,  while  the  Catechism  and  doctrinal  instruc- 
tion are  in  charge  of  the  clergy. 

On  Saturday  the  lessons  for  the  church  service  of  the  following  day 
are  read  and  explained.  This,  however,  is  carried  out  chiefly  in  the 
rural  districts,  where  the  teacher  is  still  expected  to  look  after  the  attend- 
ance of  children  upon  divine  service.  This  in  general  is  the  course 
marked  out.  It  may  be  modified  to  suit  local  conditions,  and  extended 
in  schools  where  it  is  possible. 


298  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

The  method  of  instruction  is  largely  imparting.  The  teacher  tells 
the  story  in  simple  language  and  then  calls  upon  the  pupils  in  turn  to 
repeat  it,  while  by  skilful  questioning  he  seeks  to  make  the  meaning 
clear.  Committing  to  memory  without  understanding  the  meaning  is 
not  practiced.  Throughout  the  whole  instruction  there  is  evident  a 
spirit  of  reverence  and  a  desire  on  the  part  of  the  teachers  to  bring  the 
lessons  home  to  their  pupils  and  make  them  of  practical  use  in  shaping 
the  moral  and  religious  lives  of  the  young  beings  committed  to  their 
leadership. 

I  once  enjoyed  a  rare  opportunity  of  observing  the  method  of  religious 
instruction  throughout  the  entire  course,  and  obtaining  a  complete 
picture  of  the  work  done  and  the  end  reached.  It  was  in  a  common 
school  in  Berlin  which  I  had  often  visited.  Inasmuch  as  the  religious 
instruction  is  given  simultaneously  in  all  the  classes,  it  is  impossible  to 
visit  more  than  one  or  two  classes  a  day.  Accordingly  I  asked  the 
principal  to  modify  his  program  for  that  morning  so  that  I  could  begin 
with  the  lowest  class,  witness  the  method  and  material  employed  in 
teaching  religion  until  I  was  satisfied,  then  proceed  to  the  next  class,  and 
the  next,  until  I  had  seen  the  whole  course  exemplified.  He  granted 
my  request  (made  just  at  the  opening  of  school,  so  that  there  was  no 
time  possible  to  prepare  an  exhibition  lesson),  and  during  that  forenoon 
I  was  enabled  to  obtain  a  complete  picture  of  the  work  and  the  manner  of 
presenting  it.  As  it  was  near  the  end  of  the  school  year,  I  was  able  also 
to  determine  what  they  had  accomphshed.  It  was  the  most  profitable 
morning  I  ever  spent  in  a  school.  The  instruction  was  thorough  and 
complete,  the  method  was  pedagogical,  the  spirit  was  reverential,  and 
the  amount  of  religious  knowledge  that  the  pupils  possessed  was  simply 
astonishing.  It  was  the  regular  work  of  the  school  for  each  of  the  eight 
grades,  boys  six  to  fourteen  years  of  age,  the  work  that  fell  at  that  time 
of  the  year.  The  lesson  was  given  in  every  case  by  the  regular  teacher. 
Following  the  plan  of  the  course  that  I  have  already  outlined — stories 
from  the  Bible,  Old  and  New  Testament  history,  texts  of  Scripture, 
church  hymns,  apostolic  history,  the  history  of  the  church,  showing  how 
Christianity  has  developed — it  finally  culminated  in  a  treatment  of  the 
doctrines  of  the  Lutheran  faith.  I  can  conceive  of  no  better  preparation 
for  admission  to  the  church,  or  completer  fortification  for  the  duties  of 
life,  than  these  fourteen-year-old  boys  evinced. 

But  the  American  teacher,  accustomed  to  relegating  religious  instruc- 
tion to  the  home  or  to  the  church,  surrounding  it  with  an  atmosphere 
of  sanctity,  may  naturally  ask:  "Does  not  the  formality  of  day-school 
work  rob  the  instruction  of  its  spiritual  content  ?     Does  it  not  take  away 


RELIGIOUS  TRAINING  IN  THE  GERMAN  SCHOOLS      299 

the  life  and  real  essence  of  religion  by  treating  it  as  secular  subjects  are 
treated?"  I  confess  that  these  are  the  questions  that  troubled  me 
most,  and  that  led  me  to  enter  upon  the  study  of  this  subject  with  some 
degree  of  prejudice.  After  visiting  many  classes  in  all  parts  of  Germany 
and  closely  observing  the  work,  I  am  convinced  that  the  teachers  in  the 
common  schools  do  not  fail  to  appreciate  the  importance  of  this  work, 
nor  do  they  miss  its  spiritual  import.  I  once  witnessed  a  class  exercise 
in  the  city  of  Munich  with  a  class  of  boys  six  years  old.  The  lesson 
was  the  story  of  Joseph  at  the  moment  when  he  revealed  himself  to  his 
brethren,  when  he  said,  "I  am  Joseph;  doth  my  father  yet  live  ?"  The 
teacher  told  the  story  with  such  tenderness  and  pathos  that  many  of  the 
boys  were  melted  to  tears.  It  was  very  easy  for  that  teacher  to  follow 
his  recital  with  lessons  on  generosity,  unselfishness,  forgiveness,  and 
fraternal  and  filial  affection,  while  God's  providence  in  dealing  with 
men  was  brought  home  to  the  children.  Many  a  time  have  I  seen 
effects  only  less  striking.  The  great  mass  of  the  German  schoolmasters 
are  God-fearing  men  whose  lives  are  consistent  and  whose  faith  is  real. 
Indeed,  in  many  of  the  rural  districts  they  are  still  a  sort  of  sub-pastors 
who  may  be  called  upon  to  assist  in  the  ecclesiastical  duties  of  the 
parish. 

Thus  far  I  have  been  speaking  of  the  common  schools  and  their 
teachers.  The  situation  in  the  "higher  schools"  is  less  favorable. 
One  must  not  confound  the  German  "higher  schools"  with  our  high 
school.  These  "higher  schools"  take  the  child  at  nine  or  ten  years  of 
age  and  keep  him  for  at  least  nine  years  until  he  is  prepared  for  the 
university.  They  are  the  great  Gymnasia  and  Realschulen  which  instruct 
the  children  of  the  higher  classes  of  people.  There  is  no  such  connection 
between  them  and  the  common  or  Volksschtde,  as  there  is  between  our 
elementary  and  high  school.  In  speaking  of  religious  instruction  in  the 
"higher  schools,"  Professor  Paulsen,  of  Berlin,  once  said  to  me:  "Many 
of  the  teachers  of  religion  in  these  schools  are  men  who  have  taken  a 
theological  course  in  the  university,  but  finally  have  been  unwilling  to 
take  orders  in  the  church  because  of  unsoundness  of  faith.  They  are 
even  more  dangerous  in  the  schools,  where  they  deal  with  plastic  young 
life,  than  they  possibly  could  be  in  the  pulpit.  It  is  a  great  mistake." 
The  professor  recognized  that  these  are  men  of  splendid  training,  that 
they  are  excellent  teachers,  but  that  they  lack  the  vital  element  of  teach- 
ers of  reUgion,  namely,  personal  belief  in  the  very  things  they  are  called 
upon  to  teach.  This  certainly  is  a  serious  charge,  and  one  that  is  well 
founded  in  many  instances.  I  do  not  think,  however,  that  it  represents 
the  large  proportion  of  the  teachers  even  in  the  "higher  schools."     I  am 


30O  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

convinced  that  the  great  mass  of  the  children  of  the  Fatherland  are 
receiving  thorough  and  sound  instruction  in  religion  by  men  who 
beUeve  in  God  and  in  His  son  Jesus  Christ  as  the  Savior  of  the  world. 
Owing  to  the  much  longer  course  in  the  "higher  schools" — nine  years — 
the  number  of  hours  per  week  is  fewer  than  in  the  common  school,  being 
three  hours  for  the  first  year,  and  two  hours  per  week  for  each  year 
thereafter. 

In  the  evangelical  schools  it  is  expected  that  the  child  shall  be  ready 
for  Confirmation  at  fourteen  or  fifteen  years  of  age.  Some  months  prior 
to  that  important  event  the  pastor  takes  charge  of  the  religious  instruc- 
tion and  completes  the  work  that  has  been  so  long  and  so  faithfully 
carried  on  by  the  teacher.  This  work  is  generally  done  outside  of  the 
school.  On  the  Sunday  preceding  Palm  Sunday  the  children  come 
up  for  public  examination  in  the  presence  of  the  whole  congregation. 
This  examination  is  conducted  by  the  pastor  and  covers  Biblical  and 
church  history,  sacred  literature,  the  Catechism,  texts  of  Scripture  and 
hymns,  and  a  knowledge  of  religious  doctrine.  It  is  most  thorough  and 
impressive. 

On  Palm  Sunday  the  class  again  assembles  at  church  to  receive  an 
individual  text  of  Scripture  to  be  their  guide  and  comfort  through  life, 
and  then  they  are  solemnly  consecrated,  taking  upon  themselves  the 
vows  of  the  Christian  church.  On  Thursday  of  Holy  Week  they  take 
their  first  communion.  It  is  taken  in  the  evening,  the  anniversary  of 
the  first  Holy  Ahendmahl,  when  our  Lord  gathered  with  His  disciples 
about  that  table  in  the  upper  room  and  instituted  this  new  sacrament, 
our  Lord's  Supper.  Thus  for  months  these  young  lives  exist  in  an 
atmosphere  of  religious  devotion,  culminating  in  three  important  events, 
namely,  their  public  examination,  their  reception  into  the  church,  and 
the  taking  of  their  first  communion.  I  am  sure  that  none  of  these  chil- 
dren come  up  to  this  great  and  solemn  feast  without  a  keen  apprecia- 
tion of  its  holy  meaning  and  a  full  sense  of  the  importance  of  the  step. 
This  act  also  marks  the  transition  from  boyhood  to  manhood,  from 
girlhood  to  womanhood — a  transition  that  is  shown  not  only  by  the 
change  in  dress,  but  also  by  the  use  of  the  pohte  form  Sie  instead  of  Du 
in  addressing  them.     They  are  no  longer  children. 

This,  in  brief,  is  the  method  of  religious  training  of  the  German 
youth.  Let  us  ask  in  conclusion:  What  is  the  result  of  this  training? 
I  think  one  may  fairly  judge  any  system  of  education  by  its  fruits  as 
shown  in  the  character  and  lives  of  the  men  and  women  produced.  I 
know  of  no  fairer  or  surer  test  than  this.  An  American  in  visiting 
Germany  is  shocked  by  the  sabbath  desecration,  by  the  beer-drinking, 


RELIGIOUS  TRAINING  IN  THE  GERMAN  SCHOOLS      301 

by  the  non-churchgoing — especially  of  men,  by  too  evident  forms  of 
immorality  which  exist  everywhere,  and  by  works  on  infidelity  by  great 
German  thinkers.  I  have  no  defense  for  these  things,  nor  do  I  propose 
here  to  enter  into  a  discussion  of  them.  I  may  say,  however,  that  one 
should  divest  himself  of  prejudice  in  visiting  another  people  and  not  be 
too  ready  to  assert  that  one's  own  preconceived  notions  of  living  are 
wholly  right  and  those  of  other  people  wholly  wrong.  There  is  another 
side  to  this  question  which  I  want  to  present,  without  in  the  least  condon- 
ing the  evils  that  exist.  This  side  of  German  life  I  have  gleaned  after 
mingling  for  years  with  the  German  people  in  town  and  country,  among 
the  high  and  the  lowly,  the  rich  and  the  poor,  with  the  educated  and  the 
uneducated.  In  the  love  of  home,  respect  for  and  obedience  to  law,  hon- 
esty and  integrity,  diligence  in  business,  conscientious  regard  for  duty, 
practice  of  the  Golden  Rule,  freedom  from  municipal  and  national  cor- 
ruption, love  of  country,  behef  in  God,  soundness  of  faith  by  the  masses 
as  a  whole,  and  in  the  practice  of  righteousness,  I  am  firmly  convinced 
that  the  German  people  are  unsurpassed  by  any  people  I  know.  All 
this  I  believe  to  be  true  in  spite  of  existing  evils.  And  this  result  has 
been  obtained  by  means  of  the  religious  instruction  of  faithful  and  con- 
secrated teachers  in  her  schools,  and  of  equally  faithful  pastors  working 
in  harmony  therewith. 


MORAL  INSTRUCTION  IN  THE  ANDERSON  PUBLIC 
SCHOOLS 

JOHN  W.  CARR,  A.M., 

SUPERINTENDENT   OF    SCHOOLS,    ANDERSON,    INDIANA 

"General  morality  and  knowledge  being  necessary  to  good  govern- 
ment and  the  happiness  of  mankind,  schools  and  the  means  of  educa- 
tion shall  be  forever  encouraged."  So  reads  the  opening  sentence  of 
the  third  section  of  the  Ordinance  of  1787,  the  Magna  Charta  of  freedom 
and  education  in  the  great  central  Northwest.  When  laying  the  foun- 
dation for  our  public-school  system  you  will  observe  that  our  forefathers 
placed  morality  even  before  knowledge.  The  persons  who  have  been 
intrusted  with  the  responsibility  of  teaching  and  managing  the  Anderson 
public  schools  have  accepted  this  dictum  as  a  fundamental  truth,  and 
have  organized  the  course  of  study,  the  discipline,  and  the  teaching  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  make  the  development  of  moral  character  the  chief 
end  of  the  school.  In  the  choice  of  teachers,  personality,  power,  and 
character  have  counted  for  more  than  scholarship,  professional  train- 
ing, or  anything  else. 

'Morality  is  a  growth  from  within  rather  than  anything  that  can  be 
put  on  from  without.  Exercise  is  as  fundamental  and  as  necessary  to 
moral  development  as  to  physical  or  intellectual  growth.  If  you  wish  a 
child  to  obey,  he  must  be  trained  by  practicing  acts  of  obedience.  It 
is  not  enough  for  him  to  know  the  truth ;  he  must  become  accustomed  to 
speak  the  truth  and  to  act  the  truth.  You  may  read  to  him  beautiful 
stories  about  industry,  or  you  may  preach  industry,  yes  even  nag,  scold, 
and  threaten,  yet  he  will  never  become  industrious  except  by  practice. 
It  is  not  enough  for  a  child  to  practice  these  virtues  on  account  of  sug- 
gestion or  compulsion  from  without ;  he  must  learn  to  do  so  from  his  own 
desire  and  on  his  own  volition.  Lagree  compelled  his  slaves  to  practice 
industry;  Arnold  inspired  the  boys  of  Rugby  to  be  industrious.  That 
person  is  the  best  teacher  whose  pupils  are  obedient,  cheerful,  industrious, 
helpful,  and  happy  because  they  themselves  will  it  to  be  so. 

By  glancing  at  the  appended  course  in  morals  you  will  readily  see 
what  is  undertaken.  We  do  not  attempt  to  teach  the  whole  of  morals 
any  more  than  we  attempt  to  teach  the  whole  of  mathematics.  We  try 
to  teach  only  the  more  simple  things,  such  as  the  child  can  understand 
and  practice.     The  aim  is  to  select  some  definite  things,  such  as  obedi- 

302 


MORAL  INSTRUCTION  IN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  303 

ence,  kindness,  cheerfulness,  industry,  honesty,  truthfulness,  and  the 
like,  and  then  use  all  the  skill  and  power  we  possess  to  teach  these  things 
effectively — so  they  will  stick. 

Now,  there  are  degrees  of  advancement  in  nearly  all  of  these  things 
as  clearly  marked  as  in  any  of  the  school  studies.  For  instance,  we 
learn  how  to  study  a  reading  lesson.  We  have  begun  to  learn  the  lesson 
of  industry.  We  learn  to  apply  ourselves  under  the  eye  of  the  teacher. 
We  are  progressing.  We  get  so  we  can  study  when  the  teacher  is  absent 
as  well  as  when  she  is  present.  We  have  progressed  still  more.  We  get 
so  we  are  industrious  not  only  at  school,  but  at  home  or  wherever  we 
may  find  work  to  do;  and,  what  is  more,  we  are  happy  in  our  work — 
really  enjoy  it.  We  are  now  quite  advanced  pupils,  ready  and  eager  for 
the  test  that  comes  only  in  the  activities  of  real  life.  While  we  have  been 
acquiring  habits  of  industry,  we  have  also  been  learning  self-reliance, 
self-direction,  perseverance,  and  cheerfulness — a  group  of  related 
virtues. 

What  means  does  the  school  employ  in  teaching  morality  ?  They  are 
so  many  and  so  varied  that  even  to  enumerate  them  would  be  to  go  beyond 
the  bounds  of  this  discussion.  Here  are  the  opening  exercises  with  their 
Scripture  lesson  and  sacred  song  and  simple  prayer — a  time  to  teach 
reverence  for  God  and  man.  Here  is  our  daily  work.  If  this  be  well 
done,  it  requires  industry,  preseverance,  promptness,  self-reliance,  and 
cheerfulness.  Here  is  the  discipline  of  the  school  where  children  are 
taught  obedience  and  order,  and  self-control  and  respect  for  law,  and 
for  property  and  for  the  rights  of  others.  Here,  too,  children  are 
taught  to  help  one  another  in  their  conduct.  It  is  not  difficult  to  main- 
tain proper  discipline,  when  the  pupils  themselves  lend  a  hand.  A 
breach  of  discipline  in  a  well-regulated  school  is  regarded  only  as  an 
opportunity  to  help  someone  who  really  needs  help.  Even  the  play- 
ground and  the  athletic  field  are  utilized  to  develop  will-power,  to  show 
the  necessity  of  law,  to  teach  fairness,  regard  for  the  rights  of  others, 
self-control,  and  mutual  helpfulness.  Then  there  are  the  marches  and 
drills,  the  transfer  of  pupils  in  order  to  get  a  better  environment,  the 
formal  lessons  in  morals,  the  commendation  of  that  which  is  wholesome 
and  right,  the  condemnation  of  that  which  is  hurtful  and  wrong,  the  direc- 
tion for  wholesome  reading,  the  conference  with  parents  and  the  visita- 
tion of  homes,  the  tests  in  conduct,  the  art,  the  music,  the  clubs,  the 
excursions,  the  lectures,  the  friendly  intercourse  of  teachers  with  pupils 
on  the  playground  and  elsewhere — all  of  these  things  are  means  to  an 
end — the  development  of  moral  character. 

But  to  be  more  specific.     How  are  the  different  virtues  taught  so 


304  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

as  to  be  permanently  helpful  in  the  developnient  of  moral  character  ?  A 
few  examples  only  can  be  given,  and  the  details  must  necessarily  be 
brief.  In  general,  not  much  is  said  about  the  virtue  we  are  teaching. 
We  rely  more  on  practice  than  on  preaching.  Take  obedience  as  an 
example.  The  first  primary  teachers  will  spend  much  time  teaching  the 
beginners  how  to  go  to  their  seats,  how  to  sit,  how  to  stand,  how  to  come 
to  their  classes,  how  to  march  in  the  room  and  in  the  halls,  what  to  do  at 
rests  and  at  dismissals.  These  children  from  the  very  first  are  taught 
to  obey  signals  promptly,  to  do  busy  work  and  other  things  when  they 
are  told  and  as  they  are  told.  This  manner  of  teaching  obedience  is 
kept  up  as  the  child  advances  through  the  grades  and  the  high  school. 
Each  year  we  attempt  to  hold  on  to  what  we  have  and  to  gain  something 
more.  Pupils  learn  that  there  are  degrees  of  obedience — first,  prompt- 
ness; second,  cheerfulness;  third,  obedience  in  spirit;  and,  highest  of 
all,  obedience  when  they  are  away  from  teacher  and  parent,  because 
they  desire  to  obey  and  have  the  strength  of  will  to  put  that  desire  into 
execution.  Teachers  learn  also  how  to  help  their  pupils  to  be  obedient. 
Sometimes  the  pupil's  environment  is  unfavorable,  and  the  teacher 
changes  his  seat,  or  removes  his  troublesome  neighbor,  or  it  may  be 
transfers  him  to  another  school.  The  teacher  learns  that  directions 
must  be  clear,  requests  and  commands  reasonable,  and  as  a  general 
rule  that  they  should  be  given  in  a  pleasant  tone  of  voice  and  in  a  kindly 
manner.  The  teacher  also  learns  that  there  must  be  firmness  as  well  as 
gentleness. 

Take  industry  as  another  example.  From  the  very  first,  the  child 
is  taught  that  the  school  is  a  place  for  work.  He  is  given  something 
he  can  do,  shown  how  to  do  it,  and  then  kept  at  it  until  he  finishes 
the  work  given  him.  The  teacher  is  careful  to  furnish  a  proper  motive 
for  work,  to  vary  the  work,  and  to  have  the  pupil  stop  short  of  the  point 
of  overfatigue.  It  is  our  experience,  however,  that  when  the  child 
learns  how  to  work  and  how  to  love  his  work,  there  is  but  little  danger 
of  overwork.  There  is  far  more  danger  in  idleness  and  dissipation, 
and  dislike  for  work,  and  lack  of  skill  in  work,  than  there  is  in  over- 
work. As  the  pupil  advances,  he  is  taught  how  to  plan  his  work,  how 
to  accomplish  the  most  in  the  least  time,  how  to  test  his  results,  and 
especially  how  to  employ  his  time  most  profitably.  He  is  taught  the 
relation  of  play  to  work — to  play  when  it  is  time  to  play,  but  to  work 
when  it  is  time  to  work.  The  plodder  is  shown  that  he  will  succeed 
if  he  practices  industry;  the  child  of  talent,  that  he  will  certainly  fail 
unless  he  works.  The  pupils  are  given  tests  in  industry.  They  are 
shown  how   they  may  organize  their  reading,  geography,  or  history 


MORAL  INSTRUCTION  IN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  305 

lessons,  so  as  to  show  themselves  as  well  as  others  just  what  they  are  able 
to  accomplish,  and  how  well,  in  a  given  time.  They  are  also  tested  by 
seeing  if  they  can  work  as  well  and  accomplish  as  much  when  the  teacher 
is  absent  as  they  can  in  the  same  length  of  time  when  she  is  present. 
This  ability  to  work  is  further  tested  by  giving  them  a  difficult  problem 
in  any  subject,  and  then  seeing  what  skill,  power,  and  perseverance  they 
can  bring  to  bear  on  solving  it.  The  truly  industrious  person  works  on, 
even  if  he  does  not  see  the  results  of  his  labors  immediately.  Then  the 
pupils  are  encouraged  to  assist  their  parents  at  home,  to  work  after 
school  and  on  Saturdays  and  during  vacations — to  work  not  only  with 
their  minds,  but  with  their  hands.  The  school  also  teaches  them  that 
industry  is  a  virtue,  that  all  legitimate  labor  is  honorable,  and  that 
nothing  in  life  is  more  important  than  the  proper  use  of  time. 

As  a  final  illustration,  take  the  teaching  of  truthfulness.  Perhaps 
storying,  next  to  forgetfulness,  is  the  most  common  fault  of  little  chil- 
dren. This  is  due  to  a  variety  of  causes — a  vivid  imagination,  a  mis- 
understanding of  what  they  see  or  hear,  lack  of  ability  to  interpret 
properly,  fear  of  punishment  in  case  they  are  discovered  in  a  fault,  and 
so  on.  The  mere  statement  of  these  causes  suggests  some  of  the  means 
to  be  employed  in  teaching  truthfulness.  In  the  first  place,  our  teach- 
ers always  seek  to  make  it  easy  for  the  children  to  tell  the  truth.  They 
teach  them  from  the  first  that  any  child  may  make  a  mistake,  but  that 
it  takes  a  child  of  parts  to  tell  the  truth  about  it.  They  discourage 
tale-bearing,  and  endeavor  to  find  out  the  information  they  desire  with- 
out pressing  the  case  too  strongly.  They  deal  frankly  and  honestly  with 
the  children,  and  show  confidence  rather  than  distrust  in  them.  In  the 
second  place,  they  endeavor  to  train  the  different  senses  of  the  children 
so  that  they  are  reliable,  and  then  to  teach  them  to  express  themselves 
accurately.  This  is  begun  in  the  lowest  grades  and  continued  through- 
out the  course.  The  child  may  look  at  a  sentence  and  fail  to  see  part  of 
it,  or  see  it  amiss.  The  teacher  is  teaching  truthfulness  when  she  tells 
him  to  look  closely  and  to  try  again.  The  children  are  taught  to  listen, 
to  observe  carefully,  and  to  express  themselves  accurately — some- 
times in  words,  sometimes  in  numbers,  sometimes  by  means  of  drawings. 
One  of  the  chief  values  of  mathematics  and  laboratory  work  in  science 
is  that  they  teach  accuracy,  hence  truthfulness.  Again,  the  teacher  does 
not  give  the  children  too  many  fairy-tales  or  tell  them  too  many  bear 
stories.  There  is  a  natural  hunger  in  every  child  for  a  true  story.  Neither 
does  the  teacher  ask  one  question  and  allow  the  child  to  answer  another. 
He  must  answer  the  question  that  is  asked — nothing  else  will  be  accepted. 
And  so  the  child  is  trained  from  the  time  he  enters  school  to  know  the 
truth,  to  speak  the  truth,  to  act  the  truth,  and  to  love  the  truth. 


3o6  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

In  all  this  work,  teachers  are  guided  by  a  few  simple  principles. 
The  mother-spirit  of  genuine  sympathy  for  the  children  is  necessary  to 
their  true  moral  development.  Teachers  must  also  have  confidence  in 
their  pupils,  and  pupils  must  have  confidence  in  their  teachers  and  in 
themselves.  Teachers  must  show  pupils  what  to  do  and  how  to  do  it, 
and  then  trust  them  and  lead  them  to  trust  themselves.  This  causes  the 
spirit  of  the  school  to  change,  and  it  is  comparatively  easy  to  teach  truth- 
fulness and  honor  when  the  public  sentiment  of  the  school  favors  these 
things.  A  right  spirit  is  as  necessary  to  moral  growth  as  air  and  sun- 
shine to  the  flowers. 

But  in  the  teaching  of  morals,  even  to  a  greater  extent  than  in 
teaching  anything  else,  the  teacher  is  the  most  important  factor.  If 
she  is  a  woman  of  character,  of  culture,  of  tact,  of  insight,  of  sympa- 
thy; if  she  possesses  scholarship,  training,  skill,  and  especially  teaching 
power;  if  her  character  stands  for  something  positive;  if  she  is  a  woman 
among  women;  if  she  attracts  and  wins  rather  than  repels j  if  she  exem- 
plifies the  Christian  virtues  in  her  life,  she  can  almost  work  miracles  in 
the  lives  of  children.  I  have  seen  such  a  teacher  transform  a  disorgan- 
ized, idle,  and  rebellious  school  into  an  orderly,  quiet,  industrious, 
obedient,  and  happy  one.  I  have  seen  the  most  unfavorable  and  even 
hostile  home  influences  overcome  by  the  gentleness,  patience,  skill,  and 
love  of  the  teacher,  and  the  lives  of  the  children  positively  transformed. 

It  would  be  idle  for  me  to  say  that  all  teachers  in  the  Anderson 
schools  have  the  skill,  power,  and  character  described  above.  These 
are  possessed  by  only  a  few.  But  I  do  say  that  there  is  no  class  of  people 
in  the  city  that  wields  greater  influence  for  good  than  the  teachers. 
They  are  men  and  women  of  character  and  power.  Eighty-seven  of  the 
ninety-three  are  church  members,  and  there  is  no  moral  or  religious 
work  of  the  city  with  which  they  are  not  prominently  identified.  Their 
teaching  in  the  schoolroom  is  reinforced  by  the  rectitude  of  their  lives. 

What  are  the  results  of  the  work  of  such  teachers  ?  We  do  not 
claim  to  have  accomplished  all  that  we  have  undertaken  in  the  way  of 
the  moral  development  of  children,  yet  we  are  making  progress.  The 
spirit  of  the  school  has  positively  changed  within  the  last  few  years. 
There  has  not  been  an  extreme  case  of  discipline  for  months.  Although 
all  cloakrooms  are  open  and  the  pupils  have  free  access  to  them  at  all 
times,  yet  very  few  articles  are  ever  missing.  The  children  have  learned 
to  let  other  people's  things  alone.  Ten  years  ago  it  was  almost  impos- 
sible to  raise  flowers  in  the  city,  even  in  fenced  yards.  Now  flowers 
can  be  raised  in  the  streets  or  any  place,  for  they  are  never  molested. 
The  pupils  are  more  orderly  on  the  streets.     They  conduct  themselves 


MORAL  INSTRUCTION  IN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  307 

better  at  church,  at  Sunday  school,  and  at  other  public  places.  They 
are  more  obedient  and  studious  at  school,  and  more  industrious  and 
helpful  at  home.  A  larger  number  remain  in  school,  and  all  who  have 
graduated  are  leading  industrious,  honorable  lives.  Many  of  the  way- 
ward pupils  have  changed,  and  it  is  no  uncommon  thing  for  some  young 
man  or  young  woman  to  say:  "I  became  a  Christian  through  the  influ- 
ence of  my  teachers." 

Of  course,  the  school  is  not  the  only  agency  for  good  in  the  com- 
munity, yet  we  believe  it  is  doing  something,  yes  much,  for  the  moral 
development  of  the  children.  We  do  not  expect  the  millennium  in  our 
day,  yet  we  do  believe  the  time  is  near  at  hand  when  the  public  school 
will  become  the"  most  powerful  agency  yet  known  for  the  betterment  of 
mankind. 

PUBLIC-SCHOOL  COURSE  ON  MORAL  INSTRUCTION  IN  THE  CITY 
OF  ANDERSON,  INDIANA 

The  moral  instruction  of  children  is  the  highest  duty  imposed  upon  teachers. 
Many  children  receive  little  moral  training  at  home;  they  attend  neither  church 
nor  Sunday  school;  therefore,  if  they  receive  moral  instruction  at  all,  it  must  be  in 
the  public  schools.  So  whatever  other  work,  of  this  course  is  shghted,  the  part 
relating  to  moral  instruction  should  be  carried  out. 

The  aim  of  moral  instruction  is  to  teach  the  child  to  know,  to  love,  and  to  do 
the  right.  It,  therefore,  appeals  to  the  intellect,  to  the  sensibilities,  and  to  the  wdU. 
While  all  children  have  a  moral  conscience,  yet  what  is  right  and  what  is  wrong  must 
be  taught  to  them  the  same  as  other  facts.  The  moral  judgment  must  be  developed. 
This  culture  of  the  moral  understanding  should  be  accompanied  by  a  heart-culture 
that  causes  the  child  to  love  the  good.  The  moral  sensibilities  need  cultivation  as 
well  as  the  moral  intellect.  But  the  final  outgrowth  of  moral  training  is  upright 
conduct,  and  unless  this  result  is  attained,  the  training  goes  for  naught.  The  child 
should  be  taught  to  be  industrious,  honest,  truthful,  obedient,  patriotic,  and  rever- 
ential.    His  moral  acts  should  be  repeated  until  they  become  habits. 

Civic  obligations  should  constitute  a  part  of  the  moral  instruction  of  children. 
Teachers  should  teach  children  what  they  owe  to  the  state,  and  how  they  can  best 
discharge  these  obhgations,  both  as  children  and  as  adults.  If  children  spend  from 
eight  to  twelve  years  in  the  public  schools,  they  should  receive  such  trainftig'and 
discipline  as  will  fit  them  for  citizenship. 

The  means  to  be  employed  in  giving  moral  instruction  are  various;  a  few  only 
can  be  mentioned  here.     No  elaboration  is  deemed  necessary. 

1.  The  example  of  the  teacher.  All  children  are  creatures  of  imitation,  and 
are  influenced  greatly  by  their  surroundings  and  associates.  A  noble  example  by  a 
strong,  warm-hearted,  sympathetic  teacher  is  of  prime  importance. 

2.  The  discipline  of  the  school.  A  well-ordered  and  a  well-disciplined  school 
is  a  veritable  nursery  for  the  training  of  children  in  morals.  In  such  a  school  moral 
virtues  are  not  only  taught  by  precept  and  example,  but  the  children  are  trained  in 
moral  acts.  They  learn  industry,  truthfulness,  honesty,  kindness,  obedience, 
politeness,  respect,  and  reverence  by  constant  observation  and  daily  practice. 


3o8  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

3.  By  precept.  Teachers  should  give  positive  instruction  in  manners  and 
morals.  This  instruction  should  not  only  be  given  incidentally  in  connection  with 
other  lessons,  but  the  first  period  of  the  day  should  be  set  apart  for  instruction  in 
this  subject.  Beautiful  songs,  poems,  and  stories  have  their  place  in  the  opening 
exercises,  but  I  wish  to  commend  especially  the  reading  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures  as 
an  essential  part  of  the  moral  training  of  children. 

4.  By  commendation.  Teachers  should  be  alert  to  commend  religious  ser- 
vices, including  attendance  at  church,  Sunday  school,  and  religious  meetings  of 
various  kinds  as  the  most  helpful  means  for  the  development  of  character.  They 
should  also  commend  obedience  and  respect  for  parents,  obedience  and  respect  for 
the  laws  of  the  school  and  of  the  state. 

5.  By  conferences  with  parents.  If  the  school  is  to  do  the  most  possible  in 
developing  the  moral  character  of  children,  there  must  be  mutual  understanding  and 
sympathy  between  teachers  and  parents.  The  school  is  capable  of  supplementing 
the  work  of  the  home,  and  the  home  the  work  of  the  school. 

A  list  of  topics  that  should  receive  special  attention  will  be  given  in  connection 
with  the  outline  for  each  grade.  It  is  not  enough  for  these  topics  to  be  taught 
abstractly.  They  can  be  presented  best  by  concrete  examples.  The  aim  should 
be  to  put  into  active  practice  the  moral  precepts  taught. 

First  Grade,  (i)  Conversation  with  the  children  in  which  the  teacher  aims  to 
secure  the  confidence  of  the  children  and  to  learn  the  general  characteristics  of  each 
individual.  (2)  Drill  in  sitting,  walking,  marching,  busy  work,  reciting,  etc.,  in 
which  children  learn  the  ways  of  the  school.  These  exercises  are  of  the  greatest 
importance,  as  in  this  way  children  are  taught  self-control  and  obedience.  (3) 
Obedience  to  parents  and  to  teachers.  (4)  Kindness  to  parents,  brothers,  sisters, 
playmates.  (5)  Unselfishness — sharing  playthings,  etc.,  with  others.  (6)  Love 
of  parents. 

Second  Grade,  (i)  Conversation  with  pupils  in  which  teachers  aim  to  secure 
the  confidence  and  respect  of  the  children  and  to  learn  the  peculiarities  of  each 
individual.  (2)  Various  schoolroom  exercises  in  which  children  are  drilled  in 
promptness,  obedience,  and  self-control.  (3)  Truthfulness — give  numerous  illus- 
trations to  enforce  the  lesson.  (4)  Kindness  to  animals — read  Black  Beauty.  (5) 
Cleanliness  of  person  and  dress.  (6)  Pleasant  voice  and  pleasing  manners.  (7) 
Love  of  home.  (8)  How  children  may  help  make  a  good  school — by  being  quiet, 
industrious,  polite,  etc.     (9)    Review  work  of  previous  grade. 

Third  Grade,  (i)  Conversation  with  pupils  in  which  the  teacher  aims  to 
secure  their  confidence  and  respect  and  to  learn  the  peculiarities  of  each  individual. 
This  is  of  great  importance.  (2)  Special  attention  to  the  various  schoolroom  exer- 
cises in  which  the  pupils  are  trained  to  study,  to  obey  promptly,  to  be  quiet,  to  help 
others,  and  to  help  themselves.  (3)  Cheerfulness  and  the  advantages  it  is  to  one's 
self  and  the  happiness  it  brings  to  others.  (4)  Honesty  and  its  rewards.  (5) 
Respect  for  parents,  teachers,  strangers,  and  old  people.  (6)  Good  habits,  also 
some  things  we  wish  to  avoid— swearing,  smoking,  chewing,  and  the  use  of  coarse 
language.  (7)  Love  of  the  flag.  (8)  How  children  may  help  to  keep  the  city 
clean — by  not  throwing  paper  on  the  streets,  by  picking  up  papers,  etc.,  found  on  the 
streets,  protecting  shade  trees,  not  marking  on  fences,  buildings,  etc.  (9)  Review 
the  topics  of  previous  grades. 

Fourth  Grade,  (i)  Conversation  with  pupils  in  which  the  teacher  aims  to 
secure  the  confidence  and  respect  and  to  learn  the  peculiarities  of  each.     (2)    Special 


MORAL  INSTRUCTION  IN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  309 

attention  to  schoolroom  exercises  in  which  the  pupils  learn  obedience,  promptness, 
regularity,  cheerfulness,  helpfulness  to  others,  and  the  rules  of  true  politeness.  (3) 
Self-respect — the  equalities  that  a  person  must  have  before  he  will  respect  himself. 
This  will  furnish  an  opportunity  to  review  most  of  the  subjects  presented  in  the 
previous  grades.  (4)  Some  of  the  rights  and  privileges  of  children.  (5)  Respect 
for  the  rights  and  privileges  of  others.  (6)  Politeness  at  home,  at  the  table,  on  the 
street,  in  company.  (7)  Letters  of  recommendation — good  habits  the  best  recom- 
mendation a  boy  or  girl  can  have.  (8)  Care  of  public  and  private  property — school 
property,  yards  and  fences  belonging  to  others,  etc. 

Fifth  Grade,  (i)  Train  pupils  to  do  their  school  work  without  the  teacher 
continually  watching  and  urging  them.  Pupils  should  frequently  be  tested  in  con- 
duct. It  may  be  well  for  the  teacher  to  leave  the  room  sometimes  in  order  that  the 
pupils  may  test  themselves.  (2)  Street  conduct.  Pupils  should  be  given  directions 
concerning  the  proper  way  of  conducting  themselves  on  the  street.  They  should 
be  given  ways  for  testing  themselves.  (3)  Helpfulness  in  the  school.  Train  chil- 
dren to  help  themselves,  to  help  the  teacher,  to  help  their  fellows.  This  will  not 
be  effective  unless  children  are  actually  trained  to  practice  these  virtues.  (4)  Induf^- 
try — its  necessity,  its  benefits  and  rewards.  (5)  Promptness  and  regularity.  (6) 
Economy  and  its  relations  to  getting  on  in  the  world.  (7)  Justice.  Examples  of 
justice  should  be  taken  from  the  home,  the  school,  the  playground,  and  society. 
The  idea  may  be  enforced  by  examples  of  injustice.  (8)  Mercy.  Pupils  should  be 
taught  to  temper  justice  with  mercy. 

Sixth  Grade,  (i)  Duties  to  one's  self.  Cleanliness,  sobriety,  temperance, 
intellectual  development,  physical  exercise.  (2)  Necessity,  rewards,  and  dignity 
of  labor.  Children  should  be  taught  to  honor  the  man  or  woman  who  works.  They 
should  also  be  taught  that  all  kinds  of  useful  labor  are  honorable;  also  that  all 
classes  of  persons  should  work.  (3)  Unselfishness  and  its  corresponding  vice — 
selfishness.  (4)  Reverence  for  the  aged,  for  those  in  authority,  and  for  God.  (5) 
Develop  a  proper  school  sentiment  in  reference  to  study,  conduct,  politeness,  and 
teach  pupils  how  they  can  be  most  helpful  to  others.  Show  cliildren  that  this  is  the 
best  training  they  can  possibly  have  to  fit  them  to  be  citizens. 

Seventh  Grade,  (i)  The  family.  Reciprocal  duties  of  parents  and  children; 
reciprocal  duties  of  employers  and  employees.  (2)  Society.  Necessity  and  benefits 
of  society.  Justice  the  essential  condition  of  all  society.  Mutual  responsibility; 
brotherhood  of  man.  (3)  What  one  owes  to  his  country — obedience  to  the  laws; 
service  of  citizenship;  defense  in  times  of  peril.  Taxes  and  duties — condemnation 
of  all  frauds  against  the  state.  Voting — morally  obligatory — it  must  be  free,  con- 
scientious, disinterested,  intelligent.  Rights  corresponding  to  these  duties — individ- 
ual liberty,  liberty  of  conscience,  liberty  of  labor,  Uberty  of  association.  Guaranty 
of  the  security  of  the  Hfe  and  property  of  all.  (4)  Duty  of  the  strong  to  the  weak. 
(5)  Test  of  pupils  in  conduct  to  see  if  they  are  acquiring  strength  in  self-direction 
and  self-government  at  home,  at  school,  on  the  street,  etc. 

Eighth  Grade,  (i)  Freedom — political,  reUgious.  (2)  Patriotism — what  is 
it  ?  How  should  we  show  our  patriotism  ?  (3)  True  manhood  and  true  woman- 
hood. (4)  The  ideal  family.  (5)  Careful  review  of  topics  suggested  in  seventh 
grade.  (6)  Tests  in  conduct  to  see  whether  or  not  pupils  know  the  right  and  have 
the  strength  to  do  the  right.  The  virtues  implanted  should  bear  fruit  in  the  school 
hfe  and  home  life  of  the  children,  and  should  control  their  future  life  wherever  they 
may  be. 


3IO  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

High-School  Grades,  (i)  Character  study.  Character  study  should  form  an 
important  part  of  the  work  in  history  and  literature  in  the  high  school.  All  the 
moral  and  intellectual  elements  that  go  to  make  up  character  can  in  this  way  be 
studied  to  advantage.  (2)  Duty  should  be  thoroughly  discussed.  Duty  to  family, 
duty  to  society,  duty  to  the  state,  duty  to  self,  and  duty  to  God.  Perhaps  there  is 
no  other  subject  that  needs  to  be  discussed  more  by  American  youths  than  this. 
Again,  the  pupils  should  see  the  supremacy  of  law  and  the  necessity  of  all  persons 
acting  in  conformity  to  law.  Pupils  should  be  led  to  see  that  violation  of  the  laws 
of  nature,  of  the  family,  of  the  state,  and  of  God  brings  suffering,  and  in  many 
instances  destruction.  This  needs  to  be  enforced  by  numerous  examples.  (3) 
Self-control  and  self-direction.  These  subjects  need  to  be  taught  not  so  much  by 
precept  as  by  practice.  Pupils  need  special  and  constant  drill  in  order  that  habits 
of  self-control  and  self-direction  may  become  thoroughly  fixed.  The  principal  of 
the  high  school  and  every  teacher  should  give  special  attention  to  the  teaching  of 
this  subject.  (4)  Respect  for  and  obedience  to  law.  This  subject  should  be 
taught  so  thoroughly  by  precept  and  example  that  all  pupils  who  go  through  high 
school  will  learn  it.  The  aim  of  the  school  should  be  to  train  pupils  not  only  to 
obey  the  law,  but  to  take  pleasure  in  doing  so. 


RELIGIOUS  AND  MORAL  TEACHING  IN  THE  PUBLIC 
ELEMENTARY  SCHOOL 
WALTER  L.  HERVEY,  Ph.D., 

EXAMINER   BOARD   OF   EDUCATION,   NEW   YORK   CITY 

The  whole  matter  of  the  religious  and  moral  side  of  public  education  is 
so  vital  and  yet  so  vexed,  so  clear  and  definite  in  respect  of  general  aim  and 
so  befogged  and  vague  in  respect  of  means,  that  while  it  emphatically 
needs  to  be  threshed  out,  it  is  very  difficult  to  treat  satisfactorily  and 
impossible  at  present  to  settle  finally.  Nothing  could  have  been  clearer 
than  the  note  repeatedly  struck  at  the  last  meeting  of  this  Association 
regarding  the  teaching  of  religion  in  the  common  schools;  yet  during  the 
past  year  the  question  of  teaching  the  tenets  of  the  Christian  religion 
by  the  State  has  been  as  madly  mooted  as  ever.  And  as  for  moral 
education,  the  bill  recently  introduced  into  the  New  York  legislature 
making  mandatory  in  the  schools  of  the  state  the  teaching  of  ethics, 
under  penalty  of  withdrawal  of  the  public  funds,  shows  how  seriously 
the  question  of  moral  training  is  regarded  by  the  public,  how  gravely 
it  may  be  possible  to  err  if  resort  is  had  to  external  mandatory  measures, 
and  how  urgently  there  are  demanded  from  those  within  the  schools  a 
clearly  defined  position,  a  working  program,  and  above  all  such  palpably 
effective  results  as  shall  defy  just  criticism. 

It  is  significant  that  religious  and  moral  teaching  should  be  so  often 
lumped  together,  and  that  they  should  be  sometimes  even  confounded. 
For  while  religion  and  morals  are  necessarily  distinguished  for  purposes 
of  thought,  they  are,  as  I  firmly  believe,  so  far  at  least  as  concerns  our 
immediate  problem,  inextricably  involved.  The  highest  form  of  reli- 
gion issues  in  human  service;  the  highest  form  of  morality  invokes  the 
aid  of  the  Infinite;  and  in  the  public  school  we  should  have  no  use  for  a 
lower  form  of  religion  or  morality  than  the  highest. 

But  for  purposes  of  thought  we  must  divide  them,  and  so  I  shall  first 
consider  what,  if  any,  teaching  of  rehgion  is  possible  or  necessary  in  the 
elementary  public  school.  The  only  wise  answer  to  that  question  is, 
in  my  judgment:  The  formal  teaching  of  religion  is  impossible  and 
unnecessary  in  the  elementary  public  school.  By  the  formal  teaching 
of  religion  I  mean  all  direct  and  explicit  teaching  of  doctrine,  dogma, 
creed,  tenet,  or  belief  concerning  Bible,  church,  God,  Christ,  devil,  angel, 
prayer,  penance,  immortality,  heaven,  hell,  purgatory,  sacrament,  pope, 
bishop,  priest,  nun,  deaconess,  or  any  like  matter.     The   mind  of  a 

3" 


312  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

pupil,  so  far  as  formal  instruction  in  such  subjects  in  the  public  school 
is  concerned,  should  be  a  tabula  rasa.  It  should  never  be  possible  for 
any  child  to  come  home  from  the  public  school  saying,  "My  teacher  said 
thus  and  so  about" — any  such  matter.  For,  in  the  first  place,  such 
teaching  is,  in  the  United  States,  legally  impossible,  being  contrary  to 
the  spirit  of  our  institutions  and  contrary  to  organic  law,  as  has  been 
decided  and  is  being  decided  again  and  again,  in  the  highest  courts 
of  the  states  of  the  Union.  But  even  if  it  were  possible  legally,  it  would 
not,  in  my  judgment,  be  possible  morally  or  professionally.  The 
formal  teaching  of  religion  is  the  deepest  and  most  delicate  of  all  kinds 
of  teaching.  It  requires  on  the  part  of  the  teacher  the  greatest  skill, 
judgment,  and  wisdom.  A  friend  and  former  colleague  of  my  own,  a 
splendidly  equipped  teacher,  has  told  me  that  the  teaching  of  religion  in 
her  (private)  school  requires  more  time  and  thought  and  pains  than  any 
other  work  she  has  to  do.  In  such  work  the  view-point  is  vital ;  selection 
and  emphasis  are  vital;  the  turns  of  expression  and  the  imagery  back  of 
the  language  are  vital.  Your  way  in  these  things  is  not  my  way,  and 
still  less  is  it  the  way  of  the  teacher  under  whom  your  child  happens  to 
fall  from  year  to  year  in  the  public  schools.  You  and  I  differ  so  radi- 
cally in  temperament,  heredity,  and  modes  of  conceiving  that  with- 
out mutual  consent  and  agreement  neither  of  us  would  be  willing  to 
instruct  the  child  of  the  other  in  religion.  Are  we  then  to  permit,  with- 
out the  possibility  of  specific  agreement  or  consent,  our  children  to 
be  instructed  in  elementary  theology  by  a  teacher  in  the  public  school 
whose  views,  imaginations,  and  convictions  in  such  matters  differ  from 
those  of  us  both  ?  And  should  we  require  that  teacher  to  do  for  our 
children  what  we  would  be  unwilling  ourselves  to  do  for  others'  children  ? 
I  put  the  point  personally,  for  it  is  at  bottom  the  most  intimately  personal 
question  which  we  can  possibly  have  to  deal  with.  And  I  believe  that 
Professor  Paulsen  hits  the  nerve  of  the  matter  when  he  concludes  his 
discussion  of  religious  education  in  these  words:  "What  can  we  do  to 
preserve  the  religion  of  the  people  ?  I  am  sure  I  do  not  know,  unless 
it  be  that  when  you  consider  the  question  of  preserving  religion  you 
first  think  of  yourselves"  {Introduction  to  Philosophy,  p.  335). 

The  highest  authorities  in  education,  approaching  the  question  from 
different  directions,  converge  and  are  substantially  at  one  on  this  ques- 
tion. Dr.  W.  T.  Harris,  m  holding  that  "the  principle  of  religious 
instruction  is  authority,"  and  hence  that  such  instruction  has  no  place  in 
the  public  school  (for  who  or  what  would  furnish  the  authority  ?) ,  is  in 
practical  agreement  with  President  Eliot,  who  is  quoted  as  saying  that 
Unitarian  children  should  be  taught  to  face  the  Unitarian  way ;  and  both 


RELIGIOUS  AND  MORAL  TEACHING  IN  SCHOOLS       313 

these  arc  in  substantial  accord  with  President  G.  Stanley  Hall,  who 
remarks  that  even  so  meager  a  consensus  of  religious  content  as  would 
include  only  God  and  immortality  "would  either  be  too  generic  and 
abstract  for  school  uses,  or  else  differences  of  interpretation  would  make 
the  consensus  itself  nugatory.  Religious  training  must  be  specific  at 
first,  and,  omitting  qualifications,  the  more  explicit  the  denominational 
faith,  the  earlier  religious  motives  may  affect  the  will."  But  there  are 
those  whose  opinions  carry  weight,  and  whose  desires  and  convictions 
should  be  entitled  to  respect,  who  earnestly  hold  to  the  other  view. 

In  the  opinion  of  an  eminent  authority,  Rev.  Josiah  Strong,  D.D., 
which  is  shared  by  many,  religion  will  be  ground  out  of  the  public  school 
between  the  upper  and  the  nether  millstones  of  ecclesiasticism  and 
secularism.  "I  should  like  very  much,"  he  says,  "to  see  inculcated  in 
them  the  fundamental  truths  common  to  all  monotheistic  religions; 
namely,  the  existence  of  a  God,  man's  immortaHty,  and  accountability." 
(By  "inculcated"  I  understand  didactically  taught.)  In  a  recent 
article  in  The  Churchman,  under  the  caption  "Are  the  Educators  Truly 
Educating?"  a  plea  is  earnestly  made  for  introducing  into  the  public 
schools  the  formal  teaching  that  "democracy  is  based  on  Christianity," 
and  for  the  formal  "introduction  of  at  least  the  history  of  Christianity 
in  the  pubHc  schools,"  on  the  ground  that  "the  time  has  come  for  us 
to  decide  whether  or  no  we  can  take  the  fruit  of  Christianity  and  give  no 
credit."  A  bishop  in  the  Protestant  Episcopal  church  (Bishop  Johnston, 
of  Texas)  is  quoted  as  saying:  "We  are  threatened  with  the  overthrow 
of  all  we  hold  dearest,  because  of  the  influence  of  a  godless  education 
upon  the  rising  generation."  Rev.  Professor  A.  A.  Hodge,  of  Prince- 
ton, asks:  "Shall  we  not  all  of  us  who  really  believe  in  God  give  thanks 
to  Him  that  He  has  preserved  the  Roman  Catholic  church  in  America 
today  true  to  that  theory  of  education  upon  which  our  fathers  founded 
the  public  schools,  and  from  which  they  have  been  so  madly  perverted  ? 
....  The  system  of  public  schools  must  be  held,  in  their  sphere,  true 
to  the  claims  of  Christianity,  or  they  must  go,  with  all  other  enemies  of 
Christ,  to  the  waU."  The  latter  statement,  taken  in  connection  with  the 
former,  seems  to  mean  that  Dr.  A.  A.  Hodge  really  regards  the  "madly 
perverted  "  public  schools  as  among  the  enemies  of  Christ.  And,  finally. 
Rev.  W.  Montague  Geer  has  recently  advanced  the  thesis  that  "we  are 
bringing  up  all  over  this  broad  land  a  lusty  set  of  young  pagans,  who 
sooner  or  later,  they  or  their  children,  will  make  havoc  of  our  institu- 
tions;" and  in  defense  of  the  same  says:  "No!  Christians  cannot  com- 
promise Christ  and  His  church  and  the  Bible  out  of  the  daily  school  life 
of  Christian  children  ....  without  imperiling  our  institutions  and  the 
very  fabric  of  society." 


314  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

This  is  evidently,  then,  not  an  academic  question.  It  is  very  much 
alive.  And  it  will  never  cease  to  be  mooted  till  it  is  settled  to  the  satis- 
faction of  reasonable  people.  If  it  can  be  made  clear  once  for  all  that 
this  thing  is  impossible,  we  shall  be  the  more  ready  to  stop  discussing 
and  begin  doing  with  our  whole  might  the  thing  that  is  possible.  Once 
more,  then,  let  me  afhrm  that  the  formal  instruction  which  seems  to  be 
demanded  is  impossible,  both  legally  and  professionally. 

But  even  if  it  were  possible,  how  can  anyone  who  believes  in  the 
public  schools,  who  knows  them,  and  loves  them,  ask  that  they  be  one 
whit  more  formally  religious,  or  one  whit  less  untheological,  than  they 
now  are  ?  Such  formal  instruction  in  the  public  schools  is  unnecessary. 
It  is  unnecessary  because  such  instruction  can  be  given  outside  of  the 
schools  without  loss,  and  even  with  positive  gain.  And  it  is  unnecessary 
because  the  public  schools  can  meet  every  legitimate  and  reasonable 
demand  for  religious  teaching  without  such  instruction.  It  is  an  abuse 
of  language  to  say  that  because  the  public  schools  do  not  explicitly 
teach  the  existence  of  a  God — as  if  the  mere  existence  of  a  God  were 
a  thing  to  be  taught — they  are  therefore  "godless;"  and  to  affirm 
that  because  they  do  not  teach  anything  about  Christ  and  the  church, 
they  are  therefore  un-Christian,  and  to  imply  that  if  they  do  not  teach 
ethics  they  are  therefore  immoral.  There  is  a  vital  distinction  to  be 
made  here:  the  distinction  between  "knowledge  about"  and  "acquain- 
tance with;"  between  the  imperfect,  controverted,  misleading  utter- 
ance of  the  lips,  and  the  vital  experience  of  the  soul;  between  ethics 
and  morality,  theology  and  religion,  the  science  and  the  art;  between 
formal,  explicit,  direct,  categorical  instruction,  and  indirect,  implicit, 
real,  vital  influence,  atmosphere,  and  content.  Is  it  to  be  supposed 
that  there  is  no  religion  where  there  are  no  phrases,  or  that  there  is  no 
recognition  of  God  except  by  verbal  acknowledgment  ? 

It  is  difficult  for  many  persons  to  appreciate  the  fundamental  truth, 
so  happily  put  by  Dr.  Sophie  Bryant,  that  "the  work  of  the  teacher  is 
in  nine  cases  out  of  ten  not  done  by  directly  enforcing  the  ideas  he  has 
in  mind.  To  say  what  one  has  to  say  is  so  obvious  a  way  of  communi- 
cating information  that  if  it  be  a  wrong  way  the  caution  against  relying 
upon  it  is  doubly  necessary."  And  such  caution  is  especially  pertinent 
as  regards  the  act  of  formally  saying  what  one  may  have  to  say  about 
theology,  particularly  in  the  public  schools.  I  should  not  care  to  have 
my  child  formally  told  at  school,  "There  is  a  God."  But  I  should 
think  it  a  strange  school  indeed  in  which  there  would  not  be  many 
times  distinct,  though  implicit,  recognition  of  the  fact. 

As  against  this  position,  it  is  urged  by  the  president  of  a  great  univer- 


RELIGIOUS  AND  MORAL  TEACHING  IN  SCHOOLS       315 

sity  that  "the  correlation  of  the  different  elements  of  education  is  incom- 
plete, because  the  religious  and  moral  instruction  is  received  in  entire 
separation  from  the  general  instruction  of  the  public  schools."  This 
view  of  correlation  I  cannot  believe  to  be  sound.  In  order  to  complete 
correlation,  it  is  not  required  that  instruction  be  given  either  in  the  same 
building,  or  by  the  same  teacher,  or  under  the  same  system,  or  on  the 
same  day.  True  correlation  depends  on  something  deeper  than  time, 
place,  or  circumstance.  It  is  even  favored  by  variety  and  change  in 
these.  Moreover,  as  Mr.  Joseph  H.  Crooker  wisely  suggests,  if  in  the 
interests  of  correlation  we  must  teach  religion  with  arithmetic  on  week 
days,  we  must  also  teach  arithmetic  with  religion  on  Sunday. 

In  reply  then  to  the  question,  What  is  the  content  of  formal  religious 
instruction  in  the  elementary  public  school  ?  I  answer,  Nothing. 
But  in  answer  to  the  question.  What  is  the  real  content  of  religious 
teaching  ?  I  answer.  Everything.  There  is  no  subject  in  the  curriculum, 
there  is  no  relation  in  the  Hfe  of  the  school,  which  is  not  packed  with 
potential  divinity,  and  which  may  not  make  for  morality.  Each  study 
and  each  experience  has  its  roots  in  the  infinite,  and  this  basic  fact  may 
be  felt,  may  be  seen,  may  be  lived,  without  formal  instruction  thereto. 
The  essential  principles  of  Christianity — the  fatherhood  of  God,  human 
brotherhood,  the  infinite  worth  of  a  man,  loving  service,  the  abundant 
life — all  these  can  in  every  schoolroom  be  lived,  felt,  and  with  increasing 
clearness  known,  without  claims,  without  formal  credit,  and  without  the 
inevitable  controversies  that  spring  therefrom. 

When  we  stop  to  think  of  it,  it  is  precisely  of  this  living  experience 
that  there  is  deficiency,  and  of  claims,  credit,  and  controversy  that  there 
is  excess.  Whatever  may  be  the  function  of  other  educative  agencies 
as  regards  religion,  it  is  the  function  of  the  public  school  to  supply  the 
materials  and  the  occasion  of  a  rich  and  real  religious  experience.  If  it 
do  this  well,  it  will,  as  far  as  religion  is  concerned,  have  done  enough. 
How  can  it  do  this  ? 

Let  me  answer  this  in  the  first  instance  by  an  example.  I  wish  that 
those  who  decry  the  schools  as  "godless"  and  as  "fad-ridden,"  could 
have  visited  with  me  one  of  the  schools  of  a  great  city — a  city  where 
the  problem  of  building  character,  molding  American  citizens  out  of 
the  most  heterogeneous  and  apparently  unpromising  materials,  is  met 
with  in  its  acutest  form.  The  school  was  not  an  ideal  one.  The 
teacher  in  charge  was  not  an  ideal  person  to  be  in  charge  of  moral  and 
religious  instruction.  The  children  are  of  many  nations  and  of  many 
sects.  If  one  were  obliged  to  commit  to  any  teacher  the  task  of  the 
formal  religious  instruction  of  such  children,  one  might  well  tremble 


3i6  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

at  his  responsibility.  But  listen!  There  is  the  reading  of  a  Psalm 
without  note  or  comment — for  judicious  consideration  in  the  choice 
of  passages  and  the  manner  of  reading  has  made  it  possible  thus  far  to 
avoid  that  resort  to  the  courts  which  otherwise  would  doubtless  have 
been  had.  There  is  the  soul-stirring  and  tremendously  earnest  salute 
to  the  flag,  which  by  its  dignity  suggests  a  sacrament,  and  which,  to 
those  who  look  on  and  who  know  what  the  flag  means  even  to  those 
children,  is  a  most  solemn  and  moving  spectacle.  And  then  there  is 
the  singing.  The  visitor  is  impressed  with  the  manner  of  singing — in 
soft,  pure  tones  (for  there  is  a  vast  difference,  from  the  view-point  of 
moral  and  religious  training,  between  singing  and  physical  shouting, 
and  that  difference  is  appreciated  by  the  director  of  music).  And  still 
more  impressive  is  the  matter  sung.  For  it  is  what  might  be,  if  written 
in  prose,  and  said  instead  of  sung,  an  extract  from  a  revised  shorter 
catechism,  of  which  the  refrain,  often  repeated  by  the  sweet  childish 
voices,  so  that  it  is  still  singing  itself  in  my  ears,  was  this:  "God  is  wisdom, 
God  is  love;  God  is  wisdom,  God  is  love." 

So  long  as  such  informal  religious  teaching  and  such  real  rehgious 
experience  are  found  in  the  schools,  unchallenged — and  no  one  was  ever 
known  to  challenge  such  exercises,  except  perhaps  as  fads — how  can  the 
public  schools  be  called  "godless,"  "irreligious,"  "madly  perverted," 
"enemies  of  Christ,"  senders  forth  of  "a  lusty  set  of  young  pagans"  ? 

But  the  public  schools  can  provide  the  materials  of  a  rich  and  real 
religious  development  through  the  subjects  of  instruction,  as  well  as  by 
general  exercises,  atmosphere,  and  spirit.  First,  by  nourishing  and 
cultivating  the  spirit  of  wonder,  and  the  reverence  which  is  the  child  of 
wonder.  Any  study,  generally  speaking,  whether  it  concern  man  or 
nature,  which  leaves  the  mind  without  a  sense  of  wonder  and  devout 
admiration — which  instead  leaves  the  mind  self-satisfied  at  being  able 
to  see  clear  through  the  subject,  and  of  knowing  aU  there  is  to  be  known 
about  it,  is  ill-taught.  Secondly,  by  cultivating  the  sense  of  dependence, 
of  imperfection,  and,  naturally,  of  humihty.  All  nature  rightly  studied 
is  one  continuous  lesson  in  dependence;  nothing  self-sufficient,  nothing 
causeless,  nothing  fully  explained.  All  study  of  man  has  also  its  side 
of  dependence.  We  do  not  have  to  go  to  the  Psalms  to  find  its  expres- 
sion. The  words  and  acts  of  Washington,  Lincoln,  and  of  many 
another  great  man  in  the  presence  of  overburdening  responsibihties, 
irresistibly,  and  in  ways  too  deep  for  words,  teach  the  lesson  of  depend- 
ence. Thirdly,  by  nourishing  and  cultivation  the  sense  of  spiritual 
mastery,  which  in  its  highest  form  finds  expression  in  the  words  of  Jesus, 
"I  have  overcome  the  world;"  but  which  in  kindred  forms  appears  in 


RELIGIOUS  AND  MORAL  TEACHING  IN  SCHOOLS       317 

the  life  of  everyone  who  plays  the  man,  however  unconscious  he  may 
be  of  the  source  of  his  power.  For  it  is  not  given  to  anyone  to  play  the 
man  except  by  the  power  of  God;  and  no  one  can  himself  play  the  man 
or  enter  into  the  experience  of  one  who  does  without  coming  closer  to 
the  source  of  infinite  Power.  The  realization  of  this  source  as  source 
is  secondary,  not  primary — just  as  a  person  first  falls  in  love,  then  dis- 
covers that  he  has  fallen  in  love. 

Wonder  and  reverence,  dependence  and  humility,  spiritual  mastery 
and  faith — to  nourish  and  exercise  these  is  as  truly  the  work  of  the  school 
as  to  prepare  for  the  care  of  the  body,  for  wage-earning,  for  voting,  for 
rearing  a  family.  And  it  is  possible  to  provide  that  nurture  and  exercise 
without  adding  a  single  subject  to  the  present  curriculum  of  the  common 
schools.  It  is  worth  noting  that  this  would  not  have  been  so  true  of  the 
old  curriculum  of  the  "Three  R's."  And  herein  perhaps  we  have  the  key 
to  the  attitude  of  those  who  cry  out  that  the  schools  are  godless.  Are 
they  conceiving  of  the  curriculum  of  today  as  consisting  of  the  "Three 
R's,"  with  the  unwelcome  addition  of  certain  other  subjects  which  they 
denounce  as  "fads"?  Note  in  the  following  paragraph  the  subjects 
that  are  held  to  contain  the  richest  religious  content,  and  see  how  many 
of  them  have  at  some  time  or  other  been  fought  as  fads. 

For  while  every  subject  has  its  own  peculiar  message  for  the  spirit, 
there  are  naturally  some  subjects  which  do  this  more  fully,  or  at  least 
more  articulately,  than  others.  Such  are,  of  course,  literature,  and 
especially  poetry,  biography,  mythology,  the  study  of  nature,  including 
the  sun,  moon,  stars,  and  sky,  music,  art — yes,  and  physical  training 
and  manual  training.  Where,  indeed,  shall  we  stop!  For  every  sub- 
ject helps  the  child  in  some  degree  to  find  himself — his  true  self;  and  the 
finding  of  himself  helps  him  to  find  his  world,  and  his  God.  Each 
subject  in  its  own  way  feeds  the  life  of  the  spirit — is  veritably  an  accent 
of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

In  the  brief  space  that  remains  I  can  only  touch  on  the  related,  and 
in  many  ways  similar,  problem  of  moral  instruction. 

The  cry  for  more  effective  moral  instruction  in  the  schools,  and  for  a 
better  moral  output  from  the  schools,  is  waxing  more  and  more  insistent. 
It  is  pointed  out  that  crime  is  on  the  increase;  that  the  ratio  of  criminals 
in  the  United  States  has  risen  in  forty  years  from  one  in  three  thousand 
to  one  in  seven  hundred ;  that  in  the  United  States  the  number  of  murders 
increased  in  the  ten  years  from  1886  to  i8q6  from  one  thousand  one 
hundred  and  forty-six  to  nearly  fourteen  thousand;  that,  in  general, 
the  moral  strength  of  the  present  generation  is  unequal  to  the  moral 
overstrain  of  our  modern  life.     The  blame  for  it  all  is,  by  some  who 


3i8  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

write  to  the  papers,  placed  on  the  pubhc  schools;  and  while  it  is  mani- 
festly unfair  to  place  the  whole  blame  for  imperfect  education  on  only 
one  of  the  many  educational  agencies,  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  public 
schools  are  in  some  measure  responsible  for  the  present  gravely  unsatis- 
factory and  disturbing  conditions.  Granting  this  heavy  and  unshirk- 
able  responsibility  of  the  schools,  what  is  to  be  done  ? 

At  the  outset  it  may  safely  be  affirmed  that  the  problem  is  one  that 
does  not  admit  of  a  rough  and  ready  solution.  The  proposals  of  those 
who  would  settle  the  whole  trouble  by  passing  a  law  are  pitifully  ineffect- 
ive. Of  serious  and  reputable  theories  for  the  teaching  of  morality 
there  are  two  general  types,  corresponding  to  the  two  ways  of  teaching 
religion,  namely,  the  formal  teaching  of  ethics,  and  the  informal  inculca- 
tion of  morality.  In  practice,  it  is  true,  the  teaching  of  ethics  is  never 
found  unaccompanied  by  means  for  inculcating  morality;  and,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  moral  training  is  generally  supplemented  by  more  or 
less  incidental  teaching  of  moral  precept.  Yet,  on  the  whole,  the  line  is 
very  sharply  drawn  between  the  two  camps.  On  the  one  hand,  Pro- 
fessor Felix  Adler  and  his  co-laborers,  whose  words  and  works  are 
worthy  of  the  most  profound  respect  and  careful  study,  hold  that  inci- 
dental teaching  does  not  suffice;  that  it  deals  with  the  negative  rather 
than  with  the  positive  aspect  of  morality;  that  the  incidental  method  in 
morals  is  as  faulty  as  is  the  incidental  method  in  geography  or  spelling; 
and,  above  all,  that  the  systematic  method  is  practicable,  for  it  has  been 
and  is  being  successfully  employed.  The  accounts  of  the  formal 
instruction  in  ethics  successfully  carried  on  for  many  years  in  the  Ethical 
Culture  Schools  of  New  York,  and  the  accounts  of  similar  work  done 
in  Anderson,  Indiana,  under  Superintendent  J.  W.  Carr,  are  worthy 
of  the  most  careful  attention.  But  the  work  of  these  experiment  stations 
has  brought  out  in  stronger  relief  the  difficulty  and  delicacy  of  the  task 
of  formal  ethical  instruction;  it  has  clearly  shown  that  such  instruction 
should  not  be  undertaken  without  the  most  careful  preparation  on  the 
part  of  the  teacher.  It  is  denied  by  no  one  that  the  dangers  attending 
unskilled  teaching  in  this  subject  are  great. 

On  the  other  side  it  is  vigorously  contended,  notably  by  Professor 
George  H.  Palmer  {Forum,  Vol.  XIV,  p.  673),  that  the  attempt  to  secure 
morahty  by  instruction  is  not  only  futile  but  pernicious;  that  behavior 
can  no  more  be  taught  by  rule  than  can  correct  speech,  and  that  the 
attempt  to  do  either  results  in  demoralization.  The  two  great  means  of 
moral  education  are  individuals  and  institutions — the  former  working 
by  example,  the  latter  through  that  "unnoticed  pressure  of  a  moral 
world"  which  it  is  their  special  function  to  exert. 


RELIGIOUS  AND  MORAL  TEACHING  IN  SCHOOLS       319 

It  cannot  be  doubted  that  most  American  teachers  occupy  a  place 
between  these  two  extremes,  but  nearer  the  latter  than  the  former.  And 
it  is  well  that  such  is  the  case.  The  formal  or  systematic  teaching  of 
ethics  in  the  elementary  school,  even  though  it  prove  desirable,  is  not 
at  present  to  any  extent  practicable.  The  teachers  are  not  now  able 
to  teach  it,  and  they  will  not  soon  be  able  to  do  so.  The  dangers  of  mere 
text-book  ethics  in  the  schools  cannot  be  overestimated.  Meanwhile, 
and  indeed  in  any  case,  the  mainstay  of  character-building  and  morali- 
zation  must,  so  far  as  the  elementary  school  is  concerned,  be  sought  and 
found  in  the  means  already  at  hand:  in  the  personal  character  of  the 
teacher;  in  such  a  choice  of  the  subjects  of  study  and  such  methods  of 
teaching  as  will  produce  a  "responsive  respect  for  institutions,"  and 
cultivate  social  imagination ;  and  in  such  an  organization  of  the  school  as 
will  give  the  fullest  play  to  social  forces. 

This  view  appears  to  be  embodied  in  the  "Syllabus  on  Ethics" 
which  was  recently  adopted  for  the  public  schools  in  the  City  of  New 
York,  and  which  is  here  given  in  full  as  a  contribution  to  the  subject  of 
the  teaching  of  morality  in  a  great  city  system  of  public  schools. 


SYLLABUS  ON  ETHICS  FOR  THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  IN  THE  CITY  OF 

NEW  YORK 

It  should  be  the  aim  of  every  teacher  to  make  each  part  of  the  life  of  the  school 
count  for  moral  education.  This  aim  should  be  present,  not  only  in  formal  instruc- 
tion and  training,  but  also  in  the  general  atmosphere  and  spirit  of  the  class-room 
and  of  the  school.  In  working  toward  this  aim,  the  following  suggestions,  based 
on  the  experience  of  practical  teachers,  will  be  found  helpful : 

1.  The  personality  of  the  teacher  is  at  the  root  of  all  moral  education  in  the 
school.  The  teacher's  ideals,  sincerity,  poise,  self-control,  courtesy,  voice,  manner, 
dress,  and  general  attitude  toward  life  are  potent  forces  for  character-building. 

2.  Reverence  is  vital  to  morality.  Whatever  quickens  in  children  the  feeling 
of  dependence  on  a  Higher  Power,  whatever  leads  them  devoutly  to  wonder  at  the 
order,  beauty,  or  mystery  of  the  universe,  whatever  arouses  in  them  the  sentiment  of 
worship  or  fills  them  with  admiration  of  true  greatness,  promotes  reverence.  There 
is  no  subject  studied  in  school  which,  reverently  taught,  may  not  yield  its  contribu- 
tion to  this  feeling. 

3.  Self-respect,  which  is  also  fundamental  to  moral  development,  is  engendered 
in  a  child  when  he  does  his  best  at  tasks  that  are  worth  while  and  within  his  power 
to  do  well,  with  proper  recognition  by  teacher  and  school-fellows  of  work  well  done. 

4.  The  corner-stone  of  a  self-respecting  character  is  principle — the  will  to  be 
true  to  the  right  because  it  is  right,  whatever  the  consequences,  to  act  "with  firmness 
in  the  right  as  God  gives  us  to  see  the  right."  The  essential  difference  between 
principle  and  mere  self-interest  should  be  vividly  brought  home  to  each  child. 

5.  The  spirit  of  the  class-room  and  of  the  school — the  spirit  that  makes  chil- 
dren say  with  pride  "my  class"  and  "our  school" — is  one  of  the  strongest  of  moral 


320  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

forces.  Where  there  exists  a  proper  esprit  de  corps,  the  problem  of  discipHne  is 
largely  solved.  PubHc  opinion  as  a  moral  force  should  be  molded  and  utiHzed  in 
every  school. 

6.  The  child  should  early  gain  the  idea  of  social  membership.  The  truth  that 
co-operation  and  unselfishness  are  essential  to  true  social  living  should  be  made  real 
and  vital.  This  truth  is  brought  home  through  "group  work"  where  the  work  of 
each  is  necessary  to  the  work  of  all;  and  through  the  feeling  in  a  school  or  class  that 
the  honor  of  all  is  in  the  keeping  of  each.  The  child  should  also  learn  that  he  is  a 
member,  not  only  of  the  school,  but  of  the  family,  of  the  neighborhood,  of  the  city,  and 
of  the  state  and  nation.  The  meaning  of  loyal  membership  of  these  social  insti- 
tutions should  be  made  clear.  The  naturalness  and  the  necessity  of  obedience  and 
helpfulness  should  be  shown.  The  moral  aspect  of  home  tasks  and  of  working  with 
and  not  against  the  departments  of  health,  street-cleaning,  police,  and  education, 
should  be  enforced  by  concrete  appUcations.  In  general,  the  truth  should  be 
impressed  that  without  loyal  and  effective  social  membership  no  individual  can 
wholly  live. 

7.  No  person  has  a  fully  developed  moral  character  until  there  has  been  a 
transfer  of  the  seat  of  authority  from  without  to  within  himself :  a  moral  man  obeys 
himself.  Each  child  in  every  grade  should  be  steadily  helped  toward  self-direction 
and  self-government.  Effective  means  to  this  end  are:  appeals  to  initiative  and 
resourcefulness;  the  development  of  such  a  sense  of  honor  as  will  preserve  order 
without  surveillance;  and  some  form  of  organization  designed  to  quicken  and 
exercise  the  sense  of  responsibility.  The  "school  city,"  when  wisely  appHed  and 
shorn  of  unnecessary  machinery,  has  been  found  effective  in  many  schools.  But 
the  form  of  the  organization  is  immaterial.  The  essential  point  is  that  the  teacher, 
himself  a  member  of  the  community,  should  make  his  pupils  sharers  to  a  certain 
extent  in  the  problems  arising  out  of  their  community  life;  and  that  he  should  intrust 
to  them  as  members  in  their  own  right  of  the  social  body  the  performance  of  certain 
functions.  Such  training  in  social  activity  is  effective  training  for  citizenship. 
Under  such  conditions  "good  order"  will  mean  not  so  much  the  refraining  from 
disorder  as  the  condition  of  effective  co-operation. 

8.  Each  school  study  has  a  specific  moral  value.  Literature  and  history 
embody  in  concrete  form  moral  facts  and  principles,  showing  to  the  child  his  own 
self  "writ  large,"  furnishing  him  with  ideals  and  incentives,  and  molding  his  moral 
judgment;  and  they  will  accomplish  these  results  the  more  surely  as  the  teacher  is 
himself  moved  by  that  which  is  presented.  Every  subject  involving  observation 
and  expression  is  essentially  moral  and  should  be  so  taught  as  to  make  for  truth- 
telHng  in  word  and  act,  and  for  training  in  self-expression. 

9.  In  connection  with  the  regular  studies  of  the  school,  certain  aspects  of  con- 
temporary civilization  which  are  of  value  for  developing  the  social  spirit  should  receive 
attention.  Hospitals,  societies  for  the  prevention  of  cruelty  to  children  and  to  ani- 
mals, homes  for  orphans  and  for  the  aged  and  infirm,  fresh-air  funds,  and  similar 
agencies  for  social  service  should  be  brought  within  the  child's  comprehension  at 
the  proper  stage.  Deeds  of  heroism  and  self-sacrifice  done  by  firemen,  policemen, 
soldiers,  inventors,  and  persons  in  the  ordinary  walks  of  Hfe  should  be  presented 
and  dwelt  on.  The  truth  that  success  in  life  means  more  than  mere  money-getting 
can  thus  be  brought  home  again  and  again.  The  contemplation  of  deeds  of  cruelty, 
dishonor,  and  shame  has  a  necessary,  though  subordinate,  place  in  molding  moral 
taste. 


RELIGIOUS  AND  MORAL  TEACHING  IN  SCHOOLS       321 

10.  The  following  list  of  topics  will  supply  material  for  many  practical  lessons 
in  morals  and  manners:  (a)  Duties  to  parents,  brothers,  sisters,  and  playmates; 
to  servants  and  other  employees;  to  employers  and  all  in  authority;  to  the  aged, 
the  poor,  and  unfortunate,  (b)  Conduct  at  home,  at  the  table,  at  school,  on  the 
street,  in  public  assemblies,  and  in  public  conveyances,  (c)  The  common  virtues, 
such  as  regularity,  punctuality,  self-control,  cheerfulness,  neatness,  purity,  temper- 
ance, honesty,  truthfulness,  obedience,  industry,  and  patriotism. 

11.  In  all  such  moral  instruction  and  guidance  the  following  principles  should 
be  observed:  (a)  The  course  of  moral  training  is  a  development,  in  which  the 
child  is  first  led  to  practice  and  afterward  to  work  from  principle;  he  proceeds  from 
obedience  on  faith  to  obedience  on  principle;  from  regularity  to  faithfulness.  The 
child  also  develops  from  egoism  to  altruism.  His  impulse  toward  self-interest 
normally  develops  earlier  than  his  impulse  to  put  himself  in  another's  place.  Upon 
the  full  development  of  the  former  stage  depends  the  full  development  of  the  latter. 
(b)  The  culture  of  the  imagination  is  a  powerful  aid  in  moral  instruction;  first,  as 
the  power  vividly  to  picture  consequences — to  put  yourself  in  your  own  place  later 
on  (foresight);  secondly,  as  the  power  to  "put  yourself  in  his  place"  (social  imagi- 
nation, sympathy),  (c)  In  using  literature  and  similar  material  for  purposes  of 
moral  education,  the  teacher  should  not  violate  the  law  of  self-activity.  The  child 
properly  resents  having  a  moral  drawn  for  him  which  he  could  draw  for  himself, 
and  he  is  the  more  likely  to  follow  the  principle  which  he  himself  discovers  or  for- 
mulates because  it  is  his  own.  (d)  The  most  effective  method  in  moral  education 
is  positive  rather  than  negative.  A  mind  filled  with  good  interests,  high  ideals, 
and  helpful  activities  has  no  room  for  evil.  Love  is  a  stronger  and  a  better  motive 
than  fear. 


DISCUSSION 

PRESIDENT   JOSEPH   SWAIN,  LL.D., 

SWARTHMORE  COLLEGE,   SWARTHMORE,   PENNSYLVANIA 

The  separation  of  Church  and  State  is  a  well-recognized  doctrine  in 
the  United  States.  This  policy  has  thoroughly  commended  itself  to  the 
American  people.  The  view  is  also  growing  in  other  countries.  Most 
countries  which  have  a  state  religion  today  tolerate  all  religious  faiths. 

In  discussing  the  question  of  religion  in  the  public  schools  we  must 
assume  that  the  doctrine  of  the  separation  of  Church  and  State  will  con- 
tinue to  be  held  by  the  people  of  the  United  States.  It  follows  that 
nothing  which  is  contrary  to  the  will  of  the  State  can  be  taught  in  these 
schools.  In  general,  no  school  can  teach  any  body  of  doctrines  which  is 
contrary  to  the  laws  of  the  State.  Neither  is  it  wise  to  undertake  to 
teach  religious  doctrines  out  of  harmony  with  well-established  beliefs 
of  patrons  of  particular  schools.  Even  in  England,  where  the  doctrine 
of  separation  of  Church  and  State  is  not  the  policy  of  the  country,  there 
are  those  who  would  exclude  religion  from  the  public  schools.  The 
following  declaration  in  a  recent  speech  by  John  Morley  at  Nottingham, 
giving  his  view  of  what  should  be  the  duty  of  England,  is  significant: 

My  own  view  has  been,  ever  since  I  began  to  think  about  pubHc  needs,  that  you 
will  never  come  to  a  wise  settlement  until  you  have  removed  altogether  the  hand  of 
the  State  from  religious  instruction.  ReUgious  instruction  is  a  thing  of  the  parents 
• — it  is  not  a  thing  of  the  State — and  I  for  my  own  part  can  never  be  cordial  to  any 
pohcy  which  does  not  recognize  the  principle  that  the  State  is  concerned  with  secular 
things  and  has  no  concern  with  religious  things. 

The  different  points  of  view  of  people  on  this  question  of  religious 
teaching  in  the  public  schools  may  be  illustrated  by  a  circumstance  in 
my  own  experience.  This  question  was  being  discussed  at  a  meeting 
of  the  State  Teachers'  Association  in  a  western  state.  Two  heads  of 
denominational  and  two  heads  of  state  institutions  spoke.  We  witnessed 
the  remarkable  circumstance  that  the  two  public-school  men  took  the 
position  that  religion  should  be  taught  in  the  public  schools,  while  the 
denominational  presidents  said  that  it  should  not  be.  The  presidents 
of  the  denominational  schools  took,  in  effect,  the  position  that  it  is 
impossible  to  separate  religious  instruction  from  denominationalism. 
So  eminent  an  authority  as  Dr.  W.  T.  Harris  takes  the  same  position. 
He  says: 

322 


DISCUSSION  323 

Unsectarian  religious  instruction  is  recommended  for  schools  supported  by 
public  taxes,  but  such  unsectarian  religion  is  of  a  character  far  from  satisfactory. 
And  it  is  impossible  to  have  any  such  unsectarian  religion  that  is  not  regarded  as 

sectarian  by  the  most  earnest  religious  denomination The  bare  enumeration 

of  Christian  doctrines  in  language  partly  secular  is  sufficient  to  show  the  possibility 
of  their  introduction  into  the  curriculum  of  schools  supported  by  pubUc  taxes. 
The  necessity  of  considering  the  right  of  conscience  of  all  citizens  alike  in  the  schools 
renders  it  impossible  to  bring  in  religious  ceremonies  or  doctrines  that  are  distinctly 

religious,  and  undenominational  religion  is  not  to  be  found When  we  come 

to  teach  a  live  religion  in  the  schools,  we  see  that  it  must  take  a  denominational 
form,  and,  moreover,  it  must  take  on  the  form  of  authority  and  address  itself  to  the 
religious  sense  and  not  to  the  mere  intellect.  All  the  studies  of  the  school,  addressed 
as  they  are  to  the  intellect,  are  opposed  to  the  healthful  action  of  the  reHgious  sense. 
We  must  conclude,  therefore,  that  the  prerogative  of  religious  instruction  is  in  the 
church;  that  it  must  remain  in  the  church.  In  the  nature  of  things,  it  cannot  be 
farmed  out  to  the  secular  schools  without  degenerating  into  mere  deism  bereft  of 
li\dng  Providence,  or  else  changing  the  school  into  a  parochial  school  and  destroy- 
ing the  efficiency  of  secular  instruction. 

If  Dr.  Harris  is  correct,  any  satisfactory  teaching  of  religion  in  the 
public  schools  is  impossible.  Certainly,  the  American  people  will  not 
consent  to  turn  our  public  schools  into  parochial  schools.  I  believe  it  is 
at  present  impossible  to  have  religion  taught  in  our  schools  in  the  same 
sense  that  arithmetic,  English,  and  history  are  taught.  This  is  true  for 
several  reasons :  There  is  no  widely  accepted  body  of  religious  doctrines 
that  can  be  formulated  and  taught  as  these  branches  are  taught.  Reli- 
gion does  not  lend  itself  to  systematic  treatment  in  a  series  of  graded  les- 
sons. There  is  not  that  same  assumption  on  the  part  of  the  patrons 
generally  of  the  utility,  practicability,  and  necessity  of  religious  instruc- 
tion. Teachers  are  not  equipped  to  teach  religion  with  the  same  cer- 
tainty and  efficiency  that  they  are  the  secular  branches. 

Notwithstanding  Mr.  Harris  relegates  the  teaching  of  reHgion  to  the 
church,  and  John  Morley  to  the  parents,  I  am  not  ready  to  admit  that 
the  public  schools  have  none  but  secular  uses.  Neither  am  I  ready  to 
say  that  the  schools  should  in  any  way  relieve  the  parents  and  the 
church  of  the  responsibility  in  religious  instruction;  but,  so  far  as  they 
can,  they  should  co-operate  with  the  home  and  the  church  in  bringing 
the  child  to  the  highest  religious  and  moral  ideals  possible. 

I  feel  that  we  should  go  as  far  as  enlightened  public  sentiment  will 
sanction  in  teaching,  or  at  least  in  presenting,  these  fundamental  religious 
notions  which  are  of  general  acceptance.  The  framers  of  the  famous 
Ordinance  of  1787,  creating  the  Northwest  Territory,  certainly  did 
not  intend  to  forbid  religious  instruction  in  the  public  schools,  for  the 
ordinance  has  for  its  fundamental  note:  "Religion,  morality,  and 
knowledge  being  necessary  to  good  government  and  the  happiness  of 


324  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

mankind,  schools  and  the  means  of  education  should  forever  be  encour- 
aged." In  this  document  we  must  observe  that  religion,  morality,  and 
knowledge  are  placed  together  as  they  should  be  in  any  sound  system 
of  education. 

What,  then,  can  be  done  ?  Recognizing  our  limitations,  we  probably 
have  not  reached  a  time  when  religious  text-books  can  be  with  profit 
generally  introduced  into  the  schools.  But  there  are  certain  religious 
notions  which  are  almost  universal  in  their  acceptation  by  our  people: 
belief  in  God  as  the  Author  and  Finisher  of  our  faith ;  a  loving  Father 
who  is  the  Ruler  of  the  universe,  and  to  whom  His  children  should  bow 
in  humility  and  love;  the  brotherhood  of  man,  and  our  obligation  to 
all  the  sons  and  daughters  of  men ;  the  belief  that  death  does  not  end 
all,  and  the  value  of  the  human  soul;  the  moral  order  of  the  universe. 
All  these,  and  other  religious  conceptions,  are  now  in  a  way  taught  or 
assumed  in  the  school. 

I  am  told  that  a  bill  has  been  prepared  which  either  has  been  or 
will  be  presented  to  the  legislature  of  Ohio  to  ask  that  a  religious  text- 
book be  authorized  for  the  state  of  Ohio.  This  book  is,  I  understand, 
to  contain  some  fundamental  religious  conceptions  believed  to  be  prac- 
tically universal.  This  movement  will  be  watched  with  much  interest. 
Whether  successful  or  not,  it  illustrates  the  fact  that  there  is  a  wide- 
spread desire  on  the  part  of  many  in  the  United  States  to  secure  for  the 
public  schools  the  beneficent  influence  of  religion. 

Religious  instruction  is  given  through  the  teaching  of  music,  through 
literature,  through  science,  and  through  the  curriculum  of  the  school. 
The  cultivation  of  the  spirit  of  (i)  wonder  and  reverence,  (2)  depend- 
ence and  humility,  (3)  spiritual  mastery  and  faith,  as  described  by  Dr. 
Hervey  are  certainly  legitimate  in  the  schools.  Not  much  instruction 
either  secular  or  religious  can  be  given  without  a  well-equipped  teacher 
whose  personality,  learning,  moral  and  religious  life,  appeal  to  those 
under  her  care.  The  teacher  cannot  teach  what  she  does  not  know, 
and  cannot  give  to  others  the  religious  life  which  she  does  not  possess. 
Neither  can  she  impart  what  she  does  know,  unless  she  has  learned  to 
teach. 

In  what  I  have  said  above  I  have  endeavored  briefly  to  state  our 
limitations  and  a  point  of  view.  I  believe  there  are  some  things  which 
must  be  done  before  we  can  greatly  improve  the  moral  and  religious 
teachings  of  the  schools,  and  this  I  believe  to  be  primarily  the  object  of 
this  Association. 

We  need  a  knowledge  of  the  facts  and  present  conditions  in  the 
United  States.     We  need  to  know  the  present  limitations  of  the  work 


DISCUSSION 


325 


due  to  the  laws  in  the  several  states,  to  what  extent  they  can  be  changed, 
the  present  extent  of  moral  and  religious  instruction  in  the  United 
States,  and  what  is  done  and  can  be  done  to  prepare  the  teacher  for 
this  work.  Whatever  course  this  movement  may  finally  take  for  the 
improvement  of  the  character  of  the  children  of  the  republic  through 
the  good  offices  of  the  public  schools,  the  study  of  the  conditions  in  the 
United  States,  the  publication  of  the  reports  of  these  conditions  and 
suggestions  drawn  from  them,  cannot  help  being  of  great  service. 

Certainly,  educators  are  united  in  the  belief  that  greater  emphasis 
should  be  given  to  moral  instruction.  The  world  needs  the  highest  types 
of  manhood  and  womanhood;  and  I  for  one  believe  that  the  home,  the 
church,  and  the  school  can  unite  in  some  way  the  better  to  secure  them. 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  WILL  IN  CHILDREN 
CLOYD  N.  McAllister,  ph.d., 

INSTRUCTOR   IN   YALE  UNIVERSITY,   NEW   HAVEN,   CONNECTICUT 

What  is  the  will,  and  what  does  the  education  of  the  will  mean  ? 

The  mind  is  said  to  function  in  three  ways :  it  feels,  it  thinks,  it  wills. 
Very  closely  correlated  with  each  of  these  forms  of  mental  activity  we 
find  certain  forms  of  bodily  movements.  Whenever  an  object  is  pre- 
sented to  one  of  our  sense-organs,  the  mental  condition  aroused  is  what 
we  call  a  feeling;  but  this  feeling  cannot  be  described  simply  in  terms 
of  the  object  presented  to  our  organ  of  sense.  There  is  with  that  color- 
feeling,  touch-feeling,  or  sound-feeling  a  tendency  to  some  kind  of 
movement. 

The  impulsive  movements,  or  tendencies  to  movement,  that  are 
aroused  by  a  sensation  may  not  be  of  a  kind  that  can  be  seen  by  a  friend 
standing  beside  you;  yet,  by  dehcate  instruments,  their  presence  may 
be  shown  and  their  extent  recorded.  As  I  am  speaking  to  you,  there  is 
a  tendency  for  your  lips,  tongue,  larynx,  and  chest  muscles  to  perform 
the  movements  necessary  to  reproduce  the  sounds  I  am  uttering.  That 
we  may  get  hold  of  the  matter  in  a  concrete  way,  let  us  take  a  con- 
ventional illustration  of  an  impulsive  movement  that  can  be  seen  by 
others  standing  near  by.  We  have  all  seen  a  child  exhibit  this  tendency 
to  movement  as  he  reaches  after  the  moon  or  any  other  bright  object  that 
happens  to  come  within  his  range  of  vision.  These  tendencies  to  move- 
ment are  not  all  of  one  kind.  Should  the  child  see  before  him  a  lighted 
candle,  his  impulse  will  be  to  reach  toward  the  candle;"  if  left  to  act 
according  to  this  impulse,  we  shall  see  this  movement  quickly  followed 
by  an  impulse  to  draw  back,  a  tendency  to  get  away  from  the  object. 
Some  sensations  give  rise  to  movements  toward,  others  to  movements 
away  from,  the  object  producing  the  sensation. 

Having  seen  the  candle  and  acted  according  to  the  impulse  to  reach 
toward  it,  suffered  the  pain  immediately,  and  withdrawn  the  hand,  the 
next  time  the  candle  is  presented  to  the  child  he  will  not  have  com- 
pleted the  impulsive  movement  of  reaching  toward  the  candle  before 
the  memory  of  the  pain  suffered  in  the  last  experience  will  have  given 
rise  to  the  impulse  to  withdraw  the  hand.  The  condition,  or  state,  of 
the  mind  of  the  child  is  no  longer  simply  feehng  and  a  tendency  to 
movement;  with  that  feeling  and  impulse  there  is  now  knowledge. 
After  once  acting  upon  an  impulse,  the  next  time  the  feeling  is  present 

326 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  WILL  IN  CHILDREN      327 

there  is  present  with  it  the  memory  of  the  past  experience.  The  tend- 
ency to  act  is  now  not  a  bHnd  impulse,  but  an  impulse  that  knows 
what  it  wants.  This  state  of  mind  is  what  we  call  desire.  The  child 
desires  the  candle,  it  desires  to  be  free  from  pain  which  the  candle  may 
produce.  Both  ideas  tend  to  express  themselves  in  movement.  They 
may  alternately,  iirst  one,  then  the  other,  gain  an  ascendency,  as  we  see 
the  child  move  toward,  then  draw  back  from,  the  candle.  Each  impulse 
to  move  is  checked,  or,  as  we  say  in  technical  language,  is  inhibited, 
by  the  other.  The  child  can  now  distinguish  between  his  present  state 
and  a  possible  future  state,  and  knows  how  the  future  state  may  be 
brought  into  existence.  Presently  we  see  the  child  move  away  from 
the  candle;  the  strife  between  the  desires  is  at  an  end.  He  has  acted 
with  a  definite  end  in  view;  that  is,  to  get  away  from  the  disagreeable. 
The  next  time  the  candle  is  presented  he  acts  more  readily;  the  impulse 
that  kept  him  away  has  the  advantage  of  its  former  victory,  and  will 
determine  the  activity  in  the  future.  A  definite  form  of  activity  with 
regard  to  the  candle  has  been  adopted,  a  settled  mode  of  acting,  or,  as 
we  usually  express  it,  a  habit  has  been  established. 

We  have  seen  that  there  is  one  kind  of  activity — that  is,  one  kind  of 
willing — which  is  due  to  an  immediate  sensation,  or  to  the  memory  of 
a  sensation  produced  by  an  object  in  the  material  world.  There  is  a 
large  class  of  activities  or  deeds  of  will  that  cannot  be  referred  directly 
to  such  objects.  They  are  those  activities  that  are  due  to  the  influence 
of  our  social  environment.  We  note  the  beginning  of  such  activities 
when  the  child  first  attempts  to  imitate  some  movement  produced  by 
an  older  person.  After  his  first  trial  he  compares  his  result  with  the 
movement  reproduced  for  his  model,  or  with  his  memory  of  what  the 
movement  was.  He  retains  those  characteristics  of  his  movement 
which  conform  to  his  model,  rejects  those  that  do  not  so  conform,  and 
by  gradual  correction  of  imperfections  attains  the  desired  end. 

In  order  that  we  may  refresh  our  minds  upon  the  importance  of  the 
social  environment  in  the  growth  of  a  voluntary  act,  let  us  borrow  an 
illustration  from  the  development  of  language.  The  child  attempts  to 
reproduce  a  combination  of  sounds — that  is,  a  word — pronounced  by 
the  parent.  His  effort  results  in  a  combination  of  sounds  somewhat 
different  from  the  original.  Should  the  parent  yield  to  the  impulse 
to  imitate  the  child's  first  attempts  to  speak,  and  thereby  remove  the 
possibility  of  the  child  having  a  correct  model,  his  progress  in  correct 
pronunciation  will  be  hindered.  He  will  talk  "baby  talk,"  not  because 
correct  pronunciation  is  impossible  to  him,  but  because  he  has  been 
furnished  with  "baby  talk"  for  a  model;  he  has  not  known  the  good; 


328  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

he  has  conformed  his  activities  to  the  knowledge  he  had.  The  child's 
language,  then,  is  determined  in  part  by  his  own  consciously  directed 
activities,  in  part  by  the  sort  of  language  he  has  heard. 

We  have  carried  this  part  of  the  discussion  far  enough  if  we  have  got 
hold  of  the  principle  which  was  implied  in  the  last  statement.  A  volition, 
an  act  of  the  will,  is  a  regulated  and  harmonized  impulse,  an  impulse 
consciously  directed  toward  the  attainment  of  a  recognized  end  which 
is  felt  as  desirable.  Every  volition  involves  feeling,  impulse,  and  knowl- 
edge, the  entire  organization  of  the  person.  In  the  words  of  a  distin- 
guished psychologist:  "To  will  is  the  result  of  a  development;  it  is 
something  which  no  one  can  do  at  the  beginning  of  mental  life,  but 
which  all  men  learn  to  do  in  the  course  of  its  unfolding."  No  act  of 
will  can  be  isolated  and  unrelated  to  other  states  of  the  mind.  The 
will  depends  upon  a  complex  state  of  the  mind,  a  number  of  ideas  pres- 
ent to  consciousness  whose  tendencies  are  more  or  less  in  conflict. 

A  man's  conduct  is  the  resultant  of  his  impulses  toward  one  line  of 
action  or  another.  Objects  by  their  presence,  the  feelings  and  ideas 
to  which  they  give  rise,  cause  us  to  tend  to  act  first  one  way,  then 
another.  A  person's  character,  then,  is  the  kind  of  ideas  he  possesses, 
and  the  manner  in  which  they  have  become  organized  in  his  life.  One 
person  acts  precipitately  upon  the  first  impulse  that  arises;  there  seems 
to  be  no  relation,  no  interaction  between  his  ideas.  Another  person  has 
every  activity  blocked  by  some  condition  of  fear  or  other  emotion  that 
makes  action  for  him  impossible;  his  ideas  react  upon  each  other,  but 
not  in  an  organized  manner.  The  highest  form  of  character  is  that  in 
which  the  tendencies  to  act  are  checked  by  what  we  call  the  inhibitory 
tendencies  to  such  an  extent  that  there  results,  not  inaction,  but  regu- 
lated action;  the  ideas  have  been  organized  by  thought  into  a  related 
system. 

Our  voluntary  behavior,  our  tendencies  to  certain  forms  of  conduct — 
call  these  habits,  or  collectively  call  them  character — is  determined  by 
our  former  activities  and  our  present  knowledge.  If  two  ideas  are 
present,  giving  rise  to  opposite  tendencies  to  action,  we  hesitate  and 
deliberate;  we  call  up  our  stock  of  ideas  that  are  related  to  these  two; 
we  find  some  idea  among  those  to  which  these  ideas  may  attach  them- 
selves. If  this  idea  is  one  that  customarily  gives  rise  to  action,  the 
action  will  follow;  if  it  is  an  idea  that  checks  or  inhibits  action,  then 
action  is  given  up.  The  sort  of  action  or  inaction  that  follows  delib- 
eration is  due  to  the  sort  of  ideas  we  have  on  hand.  When  a  line  of 
action  is  determined  upon,  not  by  the  present  mood  or  feeling,  but  in 
the  light  of  the  very  best  knowledge  the  person  has;  when  he  does  not 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  WILL  IN  CHILDREN      329 

want  to  do  it,  but  feels  that  it  is  right,  and  because  it  is  right  does  it — 
that  action  is  what  we  call  moral  action.  The  decision  has  been  reached 
by  a  process  we  call  reasoning  or  thinking.  An  idea,  that  of  doing  the 
right,  is  consistently  adhered  to. 

We  find,  then,  that  the  development  of  the  will  consists  in  attaining 
knowledge — that  is,  in  securing  a  stock  of  ideas,  in  consistently  holding 
on  to  right  ideas  no  matter  how  unpleasant,  and  in  acquiring  habits  of 
acting  upon  these  definite  ideas  which  we  call  right.  Let  us  not  forget 
that  preaching,  talk  about  being  good,  soon  becomes  a  bore.  Let  us 
seize  upon  practical  opportunities,  and  lead  the  pupils  not  only  to  feel 
and  think,  but  to  do;  for  the  doing  or  willing  cannot  be  considered  apart 
from  the  feeling  and  thinking. 

In  developing  habits  in  children,  the  easiest  and  most  effectual 
method  of  inhibiting  a  wrong  act  is  to  call  up  in  their  minds  some  inter- 
esting idea  that  tends  to  express  itself  in  right  activities.  Crowd  out 
the  ideas  that  lead  to  wrong-doing  by  bringing  in  ideas  that  lead  to 
right  conduct;  develop  in  the  child  well-established  habits  of  right- 
doing;  be  sure  that  knowledge  is  developed  along  with  the  formation 
of  habits,  so  that  he  may  know  not  simply  how  to  do  the  good,  but  why 
it  is  good.  By  so  doing  you  will  instil  in  the  child  a  love  for  the  good. 
We  have  been  taught  that  "the  fear  of  the  Lord  is  the  beginning  of  wis- 
dom," and  we  have  seen  that  the  child's  knowledge  of  the  candle  may 
begin  in  fear;  but  there  is  a  later  and  higher  revelation  which  teaches 
that  "love  driveth  out  fear,"  and  that  "love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law." 
Let  us  instruct  our  children  in  the  light  of  this  truth. 


THE  MORAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  QUALIFICATIONS  OF  THE 

TEACHER 

NATHAN  C.  SCHAEFFER,  Ph.D.,  LL.D., 

STATE  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  PUBLIC  INSTRUCTION,  HARRISBURG,  PENNSYLVANIA 

For  the  purposes  of  this  discussion  teachers  may  be  divided  into 
three  classes:  to  the  first  class  belong  those  who  never  miss  an  oppor- 
tunity to  sneer  at  the  religious  creed  of  their  pupils;  to  the  second  class 
belong  those  who  occupy  an  attitude  of  indifference  on  the  subject  of 
religion;  to  the  third  class  belong  those  who  are  in  sympathy  with  the 
religious  life  of  their  pupils,  in  spite  of  differences  of  creeds  and  cus- 
toms. Under  existing  laws  the  first  and  second  classes  of  teachers  can- 
not be  excluded  from  the  elementary  school;  but  the  parent  can  shield 
his  children  from  their  pernicious  influence  by  having  them  transferred 
to  other  schools,  or  by  sending  them  to  private  schools.  Perhaps  the 
worst  service  which  a  teacher  can  render  a  child  is  to  undermine  its 
faith  in  the  unseen  and  the  divine,  because  he  deprives  it  of  the  strong- 
est solace  and  support  in  the  midst  of  the  trials  and  struggles  of  this 
life.  A  child  whose  attention  is  never  turned  from  nature  up  to  nature's 
God  receives  only  a  partial  education. 

In  schools  in  which  positive  religious  instruction  can  be  given,  the 
teacher  should  possess  qualifications  in  addition  to  the  sympathy  which 
he  should  feel  for  the  religious  convictions  of  the  child  or  of  its  parents. 
It  is  self-evident  that  he  should  have  a  clear  conception  of  the  truth  to 
be  taught.  This  is  the  first  qualification.  No  professional  school  can 
ever  escape  the  task  of  academic  work.  The  medical  college  must 
impart  a  knowledge  of  the  different  branches  of  medicine  as  well  as 
the  art  of  practicing  medicine.  The  law  school  teaches  a  knowledge 
of  the  law  as  well  as  the  practice  of  law.  The  theological  seminary 
spends  most  of  its  time  in  imparting  a  knowledge  of  the  Bible,  of  Chris- 
tian doctrine  and  church  history,  and  only  a  small  fraction  of  the  time 
in  homiletic  exercises  and  the  preparation  of  sermons. 

Much  harm  results  from  misconceptions  of  Biblical  truth.  We 
sometimes  hear  the  phrase  "total  depravity"  used  as  if  it  signified  that 
human  nature  is  as  bad  as  it  can  be.  The  church  never  taught  this. 
'Total  depravity"  as  used  by  the  church  fathers  does  not  mean  utter 
depravity;  the  doctrine  of  total  depravity  was  formulated  to  combat  a 
heresy  which  affirmed  that  the  sinful  tendency  has  its  seat  in  the  flesh, 
and  hence  only  in  the  body ;  whereas  the  church  in  every  age  and  clime 

330 


THE  QUALIFICATIONS  OF  THE  TEACHER 

has  taught  that  the  sinful  tendency  is  found  in  the  totality  of  man's 
being  and  not  merely  in  a  part  of  his  nature.  One  constantly  hears 
at  educational  gatherings  the  phrase  "total  depravity"  used  to  denote 
the  utter  depravity  of  man,  which,  if  true  of  a  human  being,  would  put 
him  beyond  the  possibility  of  redemption. 

"Truth"  was  a  favorite  word  of  Jesus.  A  teacher  whose  favorite 
word  is  "truth"  must  have  claimed  the  intellect  for  himself.  He  came 
not  to  impart  scientific  tiuth,  nor  any  other  kind  of  truth  which  man 
can  evolve  or  discover  for  himself.  It  was  his  mission  to  impart 
revealed  truth.  A  knowledge  of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus  I  would 
predicate  as  the  first  of  the  essential  qualifications  of  the  teacher  of 
religion. 

In  the  next  place,  it  should  be  emphasized  that  no  one  really  knows 
the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus  until  he  has  experienced  that  truth  in  his 
heart.  Precept  must  be  reinforced  by  example.  The  life  of  a  preacher 
or  a  Sunday-school  teacher  should  give  adequate  expression  to  the 
religious  truth  which  he  seeks  to  instil  into  the  minds  of  his  hearers. 
Mere  cant  will  not  suffice.  With  unerring  instinct  children  detect  sham 
and  pretense,  and  distinguish  the  genuine  teacher  from  the  one  whose 
life  does  not  harmonize  with  his  professions. 

Thirdly,  it  should  be  noted  that  there  is  a  difference  between  knowl- 
edge and  teaching  power.  Of  Pascal  it  was  said  that  his  style  was  a 
garment  of  light.  The  same  may  be  predicated  of  Jesus,  who  was  the 
greatest  teacher  of  all  the  ages,  at  least  so  far  as  moral  and  religious 
truth  is  concerned.  He  took  the  profoundest  truths  of  time  and  eter- 
nity and  clothed  them  in  a  garb  suited  to  the  grasp  of  ordinary  minds. 
Skill  in  the  art  of  imparting  religious  truth  can  be  acquired  by  care  and 
study  and  prayer. 

Finally,  it  seems  to  me  that  the  methoa  of  Jesus  has  not  received 
sufficient  attention  from  those  who  would  qualify  themselves  as  teachers. 
The  disciples  were  known  from  the  fact  that  they  had  been  with  Jesus. 
They  acquired  from  Him  something  that  lay  at  the  foundation  of  their 
success.  One  sermon  of  Peter  converted  three  thousand  souls,  whereas 
today  it  takes  three  thousand  sermons  to  convert  a  single  soul.  The 
two  disciples  who  conversed  with  Him  on  the  way  to  Emmaus  exclaimed : 
"Did  not  our  hearts  burn  within  us  while  He  talked  with  us  by  the  wav 
and  while  He  opened  to  us  the  Scriptures?"  Those  who  listened  to 
Peter  on  the  Day  of  Pentecost  were  pricked  in  their  hearts,  and  instead 
of  praising  Peter's  eloquence  they  asked:  "Men  and  brethren,  what 
shall  we  do?" 

There  are  teachers  whose  advent  means  dulness  and  intellectual 


332  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

apathy.  They  cannot  strike  a  Hght  anywhere.  The  successful  teacher 
kindles  enthusiasm  while  he  conveys  truth;  he  reaches  the  heart  when- 
ever he  touches  the  intellect,  and  challenges  the  will  so  that  men  ask, 
"What  shall  we  do?"  and,  having  learned  what  to  do,  lose  no  time  in 
doing  it.  This  power  to  reach  the  deepest  depths  of  the  human  heart, 
there  to  touch  the  springs  of  action,  can  be  acquired  from  daily  contact 
with  Jesus.  Like  the  early  disciples,  we  should  daily  sit  at  His  feet 
if  we  would  attain  the  highest  qualifications  of  a  teacher  of  religious 
truth. 


[Department  VIII,  Private   Schools,  held  no  departmental  session  at  the 
Philadelphia  Convention.] 


IX.     TEACHER  TRAINING 


THE  PRESENT  TRAINING  OF  TEACHERS  FOR  RELIGIOUS 

EDUCATION 

PROFESSOR  AMOS  W.  PATTEN,  D.D., 

NORTHWESTERN   UNIVERSITY,   EVANSTON,   ILLINOIS 

The  conception  of  what  constitutes  "religious  education"  will  deter- 
mine the  nature  of  the  equipment  given  to  the  teacher  of  religion.  That 
religion  is  a  necessary  and  universal  element  of  human  nature  and  of 
human  civilization  is  now  generally  conceded.  Whether  we  hold  with 
Kant  that  "religion  consists  in  our  recognizing  all  our  duties  as  divine 
commands;"  or  with  Hegel  that  "religion  is  the  knowledge  acquired 
by  the  finite  spirit  of  its  essence  as  absolute  spirit;"  or  with  Carlyle 
that  "religion  is  the  thing  a  man  practically  beUeves;  the  thing  a  man 
does  practically  lay  to  heart  and  know  for  certain  concerning  his  vital 
relations  tathis  mysterious  universe  and  his  duty  and  destiny  therein" — 
one  thing  seems  sure,  that  all  men  everywhere  have  manifested  a  rela- 
tion to  a  power  above  them  and  have  seemed  to  have  ultra-rational 
sanction  for  their  conduct. 

The  rapid  growth  of  the  "science  of  religion,"  the  study  of  the  his- 
tory and  philosophy  of  rehgion,  indicate  clearly  the  profound  interest 
in  all  matters  relating  to  the  religious  belief  and  practice  of  the  race 
and  the  clear  conviction  that  man  is  a  religious  being.  That  the  spiritual 
is  the  climax  of  the  entire  evolutionary'  process  has  come  to  be  an  accepted 
modem  canon.  A  man's  relation  to  God  is  his  highest  relation.  The 
inquiry,  "How  are  we  to  educate  this  spiritual  being,  and  what  is  being 
done  at  the  present  time  to  this  end?"  is  surely  a  most  vital  topic. 
That  men  of  all  religious  confessions  should  unite  to  form  a  great 
Association  whose  sole  purpose  is  to  promote  religious  and  moral 
education  is  certainly  one  of  the  most  significant  events  of  the  day. 
The  rise  of  a  "religious  pedagogy"  indicates  that  men  are  endeavoring 
to  study  most  carefully  the  best  methods  of  training  the  religious  element 
in  human  nature. 

Yet,  while  the  spiritual  is  the  summit  of  human  culture,  we  must 
be  careful  to  state  that  the  religious  life  is  not  merely  a  fragment,  but 
is  the  whole  life.  Religion  is  not  a  ceremony,  or  a  sort  of  religiousness 
to  be  assumed  on  occasion.     It  permeates  the  entire  activity.     It  is  a 

333 


334  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

positive  social  force.  It  has  its  organized  form.  Its  social  expression 
we  call  the  "Kingdom  of  God."  The  goal  of  the  individual  is  to  become 
a  child  of  God.  The  goal  of  society  is  to  become  the  Kingdom  of  God. 
To  lead  man  into  fellowship  with  God,  as  his  normal  relationship,  and 
to  bring  about  the  rule  of  God  in  the  lives  of  men — this  is  the  work  of 
the  teacher  of  religion. 

Such  a  teacher  should  be,  in  the  first  place,  a  religious  person — 
one  who  has  come  into  fellowship  with  God;  or,  as  we  might  well  say, 
one  who  has  religious  experience  and  a  positive  religious  hfe.  He 
should  know  the  Scriptures  and  the  Christ  of  the  Scriptures.  He  should 
have  sympathetic  understanding  of  the  religious  aspirations  of  men  as 
they  have  appeared  in  all  ages.  He  should  have  acquaintance  with 
the  thoughts  of  men  in  the  past  concerning  the  great  questions  of  duty 
and  destiny.  He  should  be  in  touch  with  the  life  of  men  in  their 
struggles  with  the  everyday  world  of  temptation,  sin,  and  sorrow. 
Only  wide  sympathies,  a  large  heart,  a  great  personality,  can  touch 
the  hearts  of  men.  But  intellectual  breadth  and  clearness  must  make 
up  the  other  half  of  such  a  teacher. 

What  is  now  being  done  to  train  teachers  for  the  work  of  religious 
education  ? 

I.  The  theological  seminaries.  Are  the  curricula  of  our  theological 
schools  built  so  as  to  equip  the  clergyman  to  be  efhcient  in  the  field  of 
religious  education  ?  For  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  this  topic 
has  been  repeatedly  discussed.  In  1883  President  Eliot,  of  Harvard 
Universitv,  wrote:  "The  position  and  environment  of  the  Protestant 
minister  have  changed  within  one  hundred  years,  and  to  fit  him  for 
his  proper  place  in  the  modern  world  much  greater  changes  ought  to 
be  made  in  his  traditional  education."  In  1892  Dr.  Charles  A.  Briggs 
declared  that  the  course  in  theology  is  very  defective  in  the  great  majority 
of  theological  schools,  but  that  no  one  can  deny  that  great  progress  is 
being  made.  In  the  American  Journal  oj  Theology,  1899,  occurred  a 
significant  discussion  on  the  subject,  "Shall  the  Theological  Curriculum 
be  Modified,  and  How  ?"  In  these  and  similar  discussions  the  ground 
is  taken  that,  because  of  changes  in  modem  society  and  the  rapid 
development  of  the  physical  sciences,  the  minister  should  be  trained  to 
meet  these  conditions;  and  that  consequently  instruction  in  the  scien- 
tific method,  in  sociology,  pedagogy,  and  the  history  and  philosophy  of 
religion,  should  be  placed  in  the  curriculum. 

In  such  a  training  the  first  place,  of  course,  should  be  given  to  the 
Scriptures,  taught  in  the  light  of  all  that  modern  research  can  furnish. 
I  should  like  to  supplement  that  by  sending  the  theological  student  for 


TRAINING  OF  TEACHERS  FOR  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION   335 

a  three-months'  trip  to  the  Land  itself,  that  to  him  might  come  that  vivid 
impression  of  the  reaHty  of  Scripture  history  which  no  boolcs  can  convey. 
Exegesis  in  Greek,  Hebrew,  and  EngHsh  should  be  the  staple  of  such  a 
course  of  Scripture  study.  It  follows  that  he  should  be  trained  in  Bib- 
lical criticism  as  a  science.  He  should  have  wide  acquaintance  with 
the  history  of  the  church,  and  the  history  and  development  of  Christian 
doctrine.  The  history  of  philosophy,  with  the  history  and  philosophy 
of  rehgion,  must  also  be  included.  Homiletics  and  pastoral  theology, 
including  careful  study  of  the  Sunday  school  and  its  needs,  should  be 
taught.  No  minister  should  be  unacquainted  with  anthropology  and 
psychology.  Assuredly  he  should  know  something  of  the  results  of 
physiological  psychology,  with  its  researches  into  the  working  of  the 
brain.  He  should  thus  come  to  know  how  great  a  factor  is  the  per- 
sonal equation  in  the  religious  life. 

As  a  director  of  the  reHgious  life  of  the  child  he  should  certainly  have 
thorough  and  careful  training  in  religious  pedagogy.  He  should  know 
much  about  the  world;  about  society  and  its  problems;  about  the  average 
man  and  his  viewpoint ;  about  the  sins  and  the  sorrows  of  the  multitude. 
He  is  more  than  a  builder  of  sermons — he  is  a  builder  of  life,  the  educator 
of  men  in  the  knowledge  and  fellowship  and  practice  of  righteousness. 

The  course  in  theology  has  for  more  than  a  century  been  Hebrew 
Exegesis,  Greek  Exegesis,  Church  History,  Pastoral  Theology,  and 
Homiletics.  This  is  still  the  backbone  of  the  curriculum  of  the  theologi- 
cal seminaries  in  the  United  States,  as  appears  from  the  examination  of 
the  catalogues  of  more  than  one  hundred  and  sixty  theological  schools 
in  this  country.  At  the  same  time,  there  is  a  marked  broadening  of 
the  curriculum  in  many  institutions,  indicating  that  theological  education 
is  being  modified  to  suit  modern  needs.  A  wide  range  of  electives  appears 
in  our  leading  schools.  The  seminary  is  feeling  the  effect  of  the  sociologi- 
cal movements  of  the  day,  and  courses  are  offered  which  bring  the  stu- 
dents into  touch  with  the  great  problems  of  the  social  and  industrial 
world.  Many  schools  offer  work  in  pedagogy,  psychology,  the  history 
of  religion,  the  philosophy  of  religion,  sociology,  missions,  ethics,  and 
the  history  of  philosophy.  In  several  leading  institutions  the  department 
of  practical  theology  gives  a  thorough  course  in  religious  pedagogy, 
including  "religious  educational  processes,  pedagogical  principles, 
ruHng  ideas  in  all  education,  Sunday  schools,  child  psychology."  That 
such  work  is  not  offered  in  more  seminaries  may  be  accounted  for  by 
the  fact  that  most  of  these  studies  are  purely  college  subjects  and  should 
precede  the  theological  course.  Several  schools  require  of  the  candi- 
date an  entrance  examination  on  psychology  and  philosophy.     There 


336  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

is  coming  about  a  profound  change  in  the  method  and  the  material  of 
theological  education;  and  there  is  abroad  in  the  ministry  at  large  a 
keen  appreciation  of  the  pressure  which  modern  needs  are  making  on 
them. 

2.  The  Sunday  schools.  The  average  Sunday-school  teacher 
receives  little  or  no  training  for  his  work.  He  has  consented  to  "teach 
a  class"  at  the  earnest  soUcitation  of  the  pastor  or  the  superintendent. 
He  knows  but  little  of  the  Bible,  and  has  no  time  to  give  to  it  save  a 
hurried  glance  at  the  material  presented  in  the  lesson-helps,  which  he 
absorbs,  but  does  not  digest.  He  has  studied  very  little  concerning 
the  child-nature,  and  has  no  knowledge  in  a  scientific  way  of  religious 
pedagogy.  His  principal  qualification  is  his  wiUingness,  his  sincerity, 
and  his  personal  rehgious  life.  These  are  certainly  prime  factors  in  a 
Sunday-school  teacher.  A  careful  correspondence  with  leading  pastors 
and  Sunday-school  superintendents  leads  me  to  the  conclusion  that  in 
most  of  our  most  flourishing  churches  there  is  no  attempt  to  provide  any 
training  for  the  Sunday-school  teacher,  either  in  Bible  study  or  in 
rehgious  pedagogy,  and  that  it  is  rare  to  find  in  Sunday-school  libraries 
such  books  of  reference  as  are  absolutely  necessary  for  the  Sunday- 
school  teacher's  work.  From  many  of  our  influential  churches  comes 
the  confession  that  it  is  impossible  continuously  and  regularly  to  hold  a 
meeting  of  the  teachers  for  normal  training  and  for  study  of  the  lesson. 
Some  emphasize  the  difficulty  of  securing  suitable  leaders  for  such 
normal  work.  Most  persons  are  greatly  discouraged  by  the  outlook.  The 
employment  of  paid  teachers  is  advocated  by  a  few.  It  is  also  strongly 
advocated  that,  while  intellectual  training  is  desirable,  character  and 
personal  piety  are  the  chief  qualifications.  If  the  teacher  have  these, 
he  can  depend  upon  the  preaching  and  the  lesson-helps  to  equip  him  in 
Bible  knowledge.  It  is  maintained  by  a  number  of  influential  pastors 
that  it  is  impossible  to  expect  the  same  thoroughness  and  efficiency  and 
the  same  requirement  of  work  from  the  student  as  are  required  in  the 
pubHc  school;  that  the  two  are  not  comparable;  that  the  teacher  in  the 
pubhc  school  is  paid  for  professional  service  and  held  to  a  high  standard 
of  work;  that  the  Sunday-school  teacher's  services  are  voluntary  and  inci- 
dental and  gratuitous.  It  is  held  that  there  are  three  things  a  Sunday- 
school  teacher  should  teach:  The  Bible,  the  Christian  spirit,  and 
Christian  conduct;  that  the  last  two  may  be  taught  well  even  while  the 
first  is  taught  inefficiently;  that  it  is  more  important  that  the  pupil 
should  catch  the  inspiration  of  the  Great  Life  than  that  he  should 
know  who  Tiglath-pileser  was. 

The  persons  responsible  for  the  rehgious  education  of  young  people 


TRAINING  OF  TEACHERS  FOR  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  337 

are  the  parent,  the  pastor,  and  the  Sunday-school  teacher.  Religious 
instruction  in  the  home  is  sadly  less  than  it  should  be,  and,  we  fear,  far 
less  than  it  has  been.  The  pastor  is  the  director  of  the  religious  life  of 
his  church.  He  is  responsible  for  the  Christian  character  of  the  young 
people.  He  is  vastly  more  than  a  purveyor  of  oratory  and  eloquence. 
He  is  a  captain  of  religious  industry ;  he  is  a  teacher  and  an  organizer  of 
his  people  to  do  efficient  service  for  the  Kingdom  of  God.  If  the  home 
places  vanishing  stress  upon  religious  Ufe,  and  if  the  day  school  may  not 
teach  religion,  who  but  the  clergyman  is  to  care  for  these  multitudes  of 
sheep  having  no  shepherd?  He  should  most  carefully  scrutinize  the 
religious  instruction  given  the  young  people  under  his  care,  and  devote 
the  highest  skill  to  the  development  of  Christian  teachers. 

In  some  churches,  however,  there  is  a  vigorous  and  well-sustained 
work  in  the  normal  training  of  the  Sunday-school  teachers.  There  are 
many  methods  used  in  the  carrying  forward  of  this  difficult  work,'  but 
it  must  be  confessed  that  we  are  far  from  having  a  satisfactory  solution 
of  this  problem.  We  should  aim  to  bring  our  Sunday-school  teachers 
to  the  same  efficiency  in  reUgious  pedagogy  as  is  required  of  teachers  in 
our  pubhc  schools  in  general  pedagogy;  and  for  the  accomplishment  of 
this  we  must  begin  with  the  pedagogical  training  of  the  minister  in  the 
theological  schools.  If  the  minister  is  thoroughly  equipped  for  the  work 
of  reUgious  education,  we  shall  be  able  to  reach  a  very  much  higher 
degree  of  efficiency  in  our  Sunday  schools.  With  the  superior  training 
that  the  mass  of  our  young  people  are  receiving,  it  should  not  be  difficult 
to  develop  a  corps  of  Sunday-school  teachers  who  shall  approximate  in 
efficiency  and  thoroughness  of  instruction  to  the  work  given  in  the  day 
schools,  and  who  should  be  at  the  call  of  the  clergyman  to  carry  out  with 
high  intelligence  his  plans  for  reUgious  education  in  his  parish. 

3.  Summer  assemblies.  More  than  three  hundred  summer  assem- 
blies are  held  annually  in  various  parts  of  the  country.  For  thirty  years 
these  have  been  engaged  in  the  training  of  Sunday-school  workers. 
Many  of  them  offer  programs  of  great  excellence,  drawing  largely  upon 
the  instructors  in  colleges  and  seminaries  as  lecturers  and  teachers. 
The  original  "Chautauqua"  had  as  its  prime  purpose  the  training  of 
Sunday-school  workers.  It  has,  however,  expanded  into  a  vast  educa- 
tional assembly.  Biblical  instruction  being  only  one  of  the  many  fields 

■  One  pastor  presents  this  as  his  outUne:  (a)  fifteen  minutes  before  the  midweek  service,  a 
meeting  of  the  teachers  for  technical  direction,  with  suggestions  concerning  matters  pedagogical 
historical,  literary,  and  theological,  in  the  lesson  for  the  following  Sunday;  (6)  the  lesson  is  the  subject 
of  study  for  the  second  half  of  the  midweek  service;  the  emphasis  here  is  upon  the  religious  teachings; 
(c)  teachers'  meeting  held  monthly,  led  by  the  pastor,  dealing  with  child-study,  pedagogy,  and  the 
technique  of  the  Bible  school;  (</)  a  small  Ubrary  of  carefully  seleQted  books  for  the  instruction  and 
training  of  the  teachers. 


338  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

of  study.  It  must  be  said  that  the  average  assembly  is  dominated 
by  the  entertainment  feature,  and  the  environment  is  not  conducive  to 
earnest  consecutive  study.  Yet  in  nearly  all  of  these  numerous  summer 
gatherings  there  is  Bibhcal  work,  given  generally  by  competent  instruct- 
ors and  giving  a  great  stimulus  to  comprehensive  Bible  study.  Since 
many  teachers,  both  of  the  pubhc  schools  and  of  the  Sunday  schools, 
flock  to  these  summer  schools,  the  result  cannot  but  be  helpful.  In 
recent  years  attention  is  being  given  in  the  leading  assembHes  to  the 
problems  of  reUgious  education.  During  the  summer  of  1903  at  Chau- 
tauqua Assembly,  N.  Y.,  rehgious  education  was  emphasized  through- 
out the  season,  and  there  was  a  "school  of  rehgious  teaching"  and 
courses  for  Sunday-school  teachers,  with  one  week  devoted  to  graded 
teaching  in  the  Sunday  school.  I  noticed  also  that  psychology,  soci- 
ology, the  problems  of  adolescence,  and  child-study  are  given  growing 
emphasis  in  some  of  the  leading  assembHes. 

4.  Training  schools  oj  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association.  Within 
the  past  fifteen  years  the  work  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
has  been  quietly  undergoing  a  decided  revolution.  To  its  evangeUstic 
work  has  been  added  its  important  educational  departments.  Thou- 
sands of  young  men  in  our  cities  find  this  an  unspeakable  boon.  The 
work  of  the  Association  is  now  a  potent  factor  in  the  rehgious  life  of  the 
day.  The  General  Secretary  must  be  well  equipped.  He  must  know 
vastly  more  than  how  to  give  an  evangehstic  talk.  Dealing  as  he  does 
with  the  men  of  a  community,  he  should  have  a  training  which  enables 
him  to  be  a  leader  and  organizer  wide  in  his  sympathies,  thorough  in 
his  acquaintance  with  the  Scriptures,  pronounced  in  his  Christian  Ufe, 
knowing  how  to  deal  with  men  and  their  problems — it  is  difficult  to 
place  him  lower  in  his  relation  to  the  community  than  the  pastor,  and 
it  surely  follows  that  such  a  man  should  have  a  training  commensurate 
with  his  important  position.  His  is  rehgious  work  in  its  broadest  sense. 
Its  value  is  being  more  and  more  recognized  by  our  foremost  business 
men  and  Christian  leaders,  whose  practical  sympathy  is  evidenced  by 
the  many  fine  structures  erected  and  projected  in  our  cities,  as  centers 
for  the  all-important  work  of  preaching  and  shepherding  the  young  men. 

Two  efficient  Training  Schools,  one  in  the  East,  the  other  in  the 
Middle  West,  claim  the  attention  of  reUgious  leaders.  The  one  in 
Springfield,  Mass.,  was  estabhshed  in  1885.  The  Chicago  School  was 
estabhshed  in  1890.  The  aim  of  these  schools  is  to  equip  young  men 
for  the  offices  of  General  Secretary,  Physical  Director,  Educational 
Director,  and  Director  of  Boys'  Work,  in  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Associations.     Those  preparing  for   secretaryships,   and   from  whom 


TRAINING  OF  TEACHERS  FOR  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  339 

more  or  less  work  in  the  direction  of  religious  education  is  expected,  are 
given  instruction  in  psychology  and  pedagogy.  There  is  also  a  special 
study  of  young  men  and  their  problems,  of  boys  and  the  phenomena  of 
adolescence.  All  students  are  required  to  take  the  Bible  instruction, 
unless  already  equipped  in  this  direction.  This  is  in  the  hands  of  com- 
petent instructors,  many  of  whom  are  professors  in  colleges  and  semi- 
naries. The  training  of  men  for  college  secretaries  is  of  the  utmost 
importance.  The  work  of  the  Association  in  the  religious  life  of  the 
college,  in  promoting  the  devotional  reading  of  the  Bible  and  in  stimu- 
lating the  mission  spirit,  has  marked  one  of  the  greatest  movements  of 
the  age.  More  and  more  college  men  are  electing  Association  work  as 
their  Ufe-work.  The  possibilities  of  this  field  to  the  student  of  religious 
education  are  vast.  The  outlook  is  full  of  promise.  Great  as  is  the 
work  already  accomplished,  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
training  school  for  secretaries  is  yet  in  its  infancy.  The  work  of  the 
clergy  must  be  reinforced  by  the  raising  up  of  a  body  of  trained  lay 
workers,  men  of  culture,  piety,  and  ability,  who  shall  give  their  whole 
time  to  religious  education.  We  have  but  just  entered  upon  an  era  of 
reUgious  education  which  means  the  marshaling  of  the  intelligence, 
wealth,  and  piety  of  the  Christian  world  for  the  religious  education  of  the 
race. 

5.  Other  agencies.  There  are  various  "Bible  Institutes"  and  **Mis- 
sion  Training  Schools"  in  various  parts  of  the  country,  as  well  as  schools 
for  the  training  of  deaconesses,  which  are  doing  a  valuable  work  in  the 
field  of  religious  education.  Most  of  these  institutions  aim  to  give  a 
"working  knowledge"  of  the  Bible,  chiefly  for  practical  evangeUstic  use. 
It  is  not  possible  within  the  limits  of  this  paper  to  discuss  these  schools. 

The  pubUc-school  teacher  has  the  greatest  opportunity  of  touching 
the  young  Hfe,  but  nothing  is  done  to  train  him  as  a  teacher  of  religion, 
for  the  reason  that  he  may  not  venture  to  touch  the  religious  hfe  of  his 
pupil  by  any  definite  instruction.  To  grant  that  the  spiritual  life  is 
the  most  important,  to  insist  as  a  principle  of  pedagogy  that  it  is  in  the 
adolescent  period  that  the  profoundest  religious  impressions  are  made 
and  the  character  most  radically  affected,  and  yet  to  prohibit  absolutely 
the  person  who  has  the  most  to  do  with  the  training  of  the  young  from 
touching  upon  the  rehgious  life,  is  a  fatal  blunder. 


THE  PSYCHOLOGICAL  AND  PEDAGOGICAL  PRINCIPLES 

OF  RELIGIOUS  TEACHING 

R.  R.  REEDER,  Ph.D., 

SUPERINTENDENT  ORPHAN  ASYLUM  SOCIETY  IN  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK,  HASTINGS, 

NEW   YORK 

Luther's  "Child's  Little  Primer"  contained  the  Lord's  Prayer,  the 
Commandments,  the  Creed,  and  the  Catechism.  Hence  the  alphabet 
and  Creed  became  united  in  one  book,  which  was  the  forerunner,  on 
the  one  hand,  of  the  book  of  Common  Prayer,  and,  on  the  other,  of 
the  modern  school  primer.  In  these  early  schools  no  distinction  was 
made  between  secular  and  religious  subjects.  Both  were  taught  accord- 
ing to  the  pedagogical  theories  of  the  time — the  teaching  was  dogmatic, 
the  learning  memoriter. 

The  secularization  of  the  course  of  study  in  the  pubHc  school  and 
the  rise  of  the  Sunday  school  were  parallel  movements  in  the  progress 
of  education.  As  the  material  for  religious  instruction — mostly  Bible 
stories  and  quotations — gradually  disappeared  from  the  school  readers, 
the  Sunday  school  developed  and  its  special  Hterature  increased.  The 
secular  school,  vi^ith  its  paid  teachers,  competitive  systems,  text-book 
enterprises,  normal  school,  and  state  support,  soon  left  far  behind  the 
Sunday  school,  with  its  unsalaried  and  untrained  teachers  and  officers, 
its  voluntary  attendance,  and  its  antiquated  methods  of  instruction. 
From  the  standpoint  of  trained  teachers,  a  suitable  course  of  study, 
and  rational  methods  of  instruction,  the  Sunday  school  has  not  advanced 
much  beyond  where  it  was  when  secular  and  religious  instruction  parted 
company  more  than  a  century  ago. 

We  "must  distinguish  between  religious  instruction  and  rehgion. 
Religion  itself — the  real  thing — is  extremely  elusive  v^^hen  we  attempt 
to  define  it,  or  to  inculcate  it  by  direct  means.  Religion  manifests 
itself  in  acts  of  worship,  in  forms  and  ceremonies,  in  literature,  art, 
and  music.  But  these  are  not  rehgion.  The  essence  of  religion  is  the 
consciousness  of  a  divine  personality  to  whom  we  are  related  through 
a  sense  of  sin,  through  fear,  faith,  trust,  and  love.  From  the  psycho- 
logical point  of  view  we  may  observe  three  factors  in  religious  training, 
corresponding  to  the  threefold  aspect  of  self-activity :  (i)  the  enlighten- 
ing of  the  understanding  upon  the  truths  of  religion — this  has  to  do 
with  the  intellect;  (2)  worship,  which  chiefly  engages  the  emotions; 

340 


THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  RELIGIOUS  TEACHING         341 

and  (3)  service  or  sacrifice,  which  involves  the  activity  of  the  will. 
Religious  education  includes  this  threefold  development.  Moreover,  it 
is  a  natural,  not  an  artificial,  process.  It  is  grafted  upon  native  instincts. 
The  soul-hunger  is  present  in  every  child;  man  is  a  religious  animal — 
he  does  not  become  such.  Religious  teaching  is  concerned  with  the 
awakening  of  right  ideas  and  views  of  religious  hving. 

The  fundamental  principles  of  teaching  which  have  been  wrought 
out  in  secular  instruction,  and  which  have  been  pretty  well  defined  and 
accepted,  are:  the  awakening  by  appropriate  stimulus  of  self -activity 
both  in  impression  and  expression ;  the  assimilation  of  the  new  by  means 
of  the  related  old ;  the  drawing  of  inferences  from  related  facts ;  and  the 
framing  of  judgments. 

There  is  nothing  in  the  nature  of  the  subject-matter  of  religious 
instruction  that  would  prevent  the  application  of  these  principles  to 
such  teaching.  But  principles  of  teaching  face  in  two  directions:  first, 
they  look  toward  mind  from  the  laws  of  which  they  are  derived;  and, 
second,  they  look  toward  the  content  of  instruction  which  they  must 
organize  and  present  for  mental  stimulus  and  reaction.  Principles  of 
teaching  are  not  workable  where  the  content  of  instruction  is  in  no 
sense  adapted  to  the  child's  stage  of  mental  development.  The  most 
flagrant  disregard  of  the  principle  of  adaptation,  both  of  matter  and  of 
method,  in  rehgious  instruction  (with  which  I  am  familiar)  is  the  prac- 
tice in  many  of  the  charitable  institutions  of  the  country  of  having  chil- 
dren learn  a  new  hymn  each  week — hymns  written  for  adult  saints; 
recite  in  concert  a  set  form  of  prayer  immediately  upon  rising  in  the 
morning;  ask  a  set  form  of  blessing  over  the  breakfast,  and  return 
thanks  at  the  close;  proceed  at  once  to  morning  chapel  service,  which 
includes  a  psalm  recital,  song,  and  prayer;  at  the  close  of  the  day  going 
through  with  a  similar  routine  of  religious  exercises.  The  emptiness 
of  such  instruction  kept  up  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  days  a  year 
becomes  apparent  to  anyone  who  will  study  the  Uves  of  children  sub- 
jected to  it;  the  endless  repetition  of  meaningless  words  and  forms 
seems  to  wear  grooves  in  the  brain,  and  the  child  goes  through  it  day 
after  day  by  a  process  of  unconscious  cerebration.  These  grooves, 
however,  do  not  discharge  into,  or  apparently  have  any  connection  with, 
other  grooves  which  have  to  do  with  the  virtues  of  moral  or  rehgious 
character.  This  blind-rote  rehgious  training  produces  such  moral  blunt- 
ness  that  no  inconsistency  between  his  religious  observances  and  his 
secular  interests  and  conduct  is  apparent  to  the  child. 

One  of  the  first  requisites  of  religious  teaching — as  of  all  other  teach- 
ing— is  that  it  shall  interest  the  child  and  appeal  to  his  intelligence. 


342  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

The  catechism  and  the  golden  texts  should  give  way  to  the  picture  and 
the  story.  But  even  these  must  have  an  interpretation;  they  must  find 
their  way  into  the  Hfe-experiences  of  the  child.  We  all  know  that  one 
of  the  chief  difficulties  of  secular  instruction  is  to  bring  the  work  of  the 
class-room  and  text-book  into  close  and  vital  relation  with  the  actual 
life-experiences  of  the  child.  In  order  to  accompHsh  this,  many  of 
the  practical  and  bread-winning  activities  of  Hfe  have  been  incorporated 
into  the  school  curriculum.  Life  outside  the  school  must  interpret  what 
goes  on  in  the  school.  This  difficulty  in  secular  teaching  becomes 
still  greater  in  religious  instruction,  because  effective  religious  instruc- 
tion must  go  deeper  than  mathematics,  science,  or  history.  It  wields 
indeed  "the  sword  of  the  spirit,"  and  must  penetrate  the  inmost  life 
and  touch  the  springs  and  motives  of  purpose  and  action.  If  instead 
of  memorizing  catechisms,  isolated  texts,  psalms,  creeds,  etc.,  the  con- 
crete history  and  stories  of  the  Bible  were  taught  in  the  same  objective 
and  analytic  manner,  and  with  as  much  sympathetic  interest  as  char- 
acterizes the  teaching  in  secular  schools  of  such  stories  as  Little  Red 
Riding  Hood,  The  Anxious  Leaf,  The  Discontented  Fir  Tree,  The 
Chambered  Nautilus,  the  Vision  of  Sir  Launfal,  or  the  Settlement  and 
First  Winter  at  Plymouth,  not  only  would  the  subject-matter  claim  the 
child's  interested  attention,  but  the  impressions  would  find  their  way 
to  the  child's  own  motives. 

The  feeling  of  ill-deserved  abuse,  of  loneliness,  and  of  separation 
of  the  hitherto  favorite  son  Joseph,  when  cast  by  his  brothers  into  the 
pit;  the  recaUing  of  his  father's  tender  affection;  the  sudden  and  harsh 
revelation  of  his  brother's  hatred;  the  shock  to  his  feelings,  and  the 
emotions  that  welled  up  within  as  they  coolly  bargained  for  him  with  the 
company  of  IshmaeHte  merchantmen,  in  all  of  which  brief  but  awful 
suspense  he  lived  years  of  experience — all  this  set  over  against  his  for- 
giving and  generous  treatment  of  these  same  brothers  when  they  came 
down  to  Egypt  to  buy  corn;  their  guilty,  scared  looks  and  superstitious 
dread  of  impending  disaster  which  they  had  nursed  in  their  bosoms  all 
these  years,  making  them  not  only  moral  cowards,  but  ever  ready  to 
interpret  a  new  or  misunderstood  experience  in  terms  of  punishment 
as  a  just  reward  for  their  unnatural  cruelty — surely,  all  this  may  be 
taught  in  such  a  manner  as  to  find  the  very  heart  and  motives  of  the 
child.  The  vigilant,  tactful  Httle  Miriam,  whose  love  for  her  baby 
brother  kept  her  true  to  her  appointed  task  and  moved  her  to  say  just 
the  right  word  at  the  most  fitting  time,  making  herself  an  example  for 
all  little  sister-mothers;  and  that  other  little  maid  whose  faith  in  Israel's 
prophet  and  desire  for  her  master's  welfare,  though  herself  a  captive 


THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  RELIGIOUS  TEACHING  343 

slave,  led  to  Naaman's  recovery — can  such  stories  as  these  fail  to  charm 
and  to  teach  ?  Nor  do  they  call  for  any  different  pedagogical  treat- 
ment from  that  observed  by  the  best  teachers  in  teaching  secular  litera- 
ture with  a  message  to  children. 

Such  literature  bears  its  own  message.  The  religious  element  is 
immanent,  and  needs  no  special  emphasis  other  than  comes  with  clear, 
strong  teaching.  The  consciousness  of  the  divine  presence  and  help, 
the  fear  of  punishment  for  wrong-doing,  repentance,  humiUty,  and 
trust,  go  straight  to  the  experience  of  the  child.  The  concrete  material 
of  the  Old  and  the  New  Testaments  constitutes  a  body  of  religious  lit- 
erature which  is  rich  in  everything  needful  for  the  most  rational  methods 
of  teaching  that  psychology  or  pedagogy  may  demand. 

What  the  religious  teaching  in  this  country  needs  is  the  same  pro- 
fessional zeal,  training,  and  skill  that  now  characterize  the  great  body 
of  teachers  in  the  secular  schools.  This  infusion  of  power  would  put 
an  end  to  the  antiquated  methods  and  makeshift  results  of  the  present 
condition  of  things.  Let  us  dismiss  for  the  good  of  the  child  all  contro- 
versy as  to  the  authenticity  of  this  or  that  story  or  miracle — just  as  we 
do  with  other  literature  of  the  schoolroom.  The  Shakespere-Bacon 
controversy  may  rage  outside  the  schoolroom,  but  eighth-grade  and 
secondary-school  pupils  go  on  reading  and  enjoying  those  plays  whose 
moral  lessons  leave  their  impress,  no  matter  who  wrote  them.  Little 
folks  revel  in  Hiawatha  and  Hans  Andersen  without  questions  or  doubts 
as  to  actuality;  and  boys  and  girls  fight  over  again  the  battles  of  Troy 
and  follow  eagerly  the  adventures  of  Ulysses  without  knowing  or  caring 
whether  "Homer"  was  written  by  Homer  or  by  another  author  of  the 
same  name.  For,  after  all,  the  actual,  objective  event  is  but  the  scaf- 
folding which  bears  the  truth.  It  is  but  the  concrete  setting  of  the 
lesson  taught.  The  child  is  no  more  ready  for  a  critical  or  doctrinal 
study  of  rehgion  than  of  ethics  or  politics  or  economics. 

The  second  factor  in  religious  education  is  worship.  The  example 
and  personality  of  the  teacher,  the  observance  of  forms  and  ceremonies, 
the  inspiration  of  sacred  music  and  rehgious  art,  all  contribute  toward 
the  awakening  and  sustaining  of  a  spirit  of  worship.  The  mature  mind 
may  worship  the  Father  "in  spirit  and  in  truth,"  but  the  child-mind 
needs  the  help  of  personal  example  and  of  sacred  associations.  Indeed, 
so  large  a  factor  is  this  matter  of  environment  in  the  religious  training 
of  children  that  it  raises  the  question  whether  a  schoolhouse  entirely 
apart  from  all  associations  of  ecclesiastical  forms  and  ceremonies,  of 
music,  religious  art,  and  architecture  is  a  suitable  place  in  which  to 


344  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

impart  religious  instruction.  It  is  certainly  not  asking  too  much  to 
require  that  reUgious  instruction  shall  be  given  by  teachers  who,  in  so  far 
as  in  them  lies,  embody  in  example  the  ideals  they  present  to  the  chil- 
dren, and  that  the  instruction  shall  not  be  entirely  apart  from  ecclesias- 
tical associations. 


SPECIALIZATION  IN  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  TEACHING 
REV.  RICHARD  MORSE  HODGE,  D.D., 

DIRECTOR  OF  EXTENSION  COURSES  FOR  LAY  STUDENTS,  UNION  THEOLOGICAL 
SEMINARY,   NEW   YORK   CITY 

1.  Sunday-school  teachers  should  be  allowed  to  specialize  as  Sunday- 
school  workers,  and  be  relieved  of  other  responsibility  in  church  work. 

2.  Ought  Sunday-school  teachers  to  attend  a  second  church  service 
on  Sunday,  or  the  midweek  service  as  generally  conducted,  when  one  or 
both  of  the  evenings  might  prove  invaluable  for  study  in  preparation 
for  Sunday-school  teaching  ? 

3.  Pastors  commonly  lament  that  they  have  not  the  time  to  con- 
duct a  teachers'  training  class,  while  they  nevertheless  are  conducting 
two  public  services  on  Sunday  and  a  third  one  during  the  week,  all 
of  which  are  practically  the  same  kind  of  a  service.  Why  should  not 
the  second  Sunday  service  in  some  cases,  and  more  generally  the  mid- 
week service,  be  devoted  to  Biblical  expositions  in  course  and  lectures 
in  religious  education  ? 

4.  Teachers  cannot  specialize  in  the  knowledge  of  children  or  the 
methods  of  teaching  without  a  grading  of  the  school.  How  long  a 
teacher  should  preside  over  a  single  class  is  a  mooted  question.  The 
shorter  the  term,  the  more  the  teacher  can  specialize;  and  the  longer 
the  term,  if  the  teacher  be  not  outgrown  in  the  meantime,  the  better 
will  the  teacher  know  the  individual  pupils,  and  the  more  intense  may 
be  his  influence  over  them.  Considering  that  the  teacher  holds  class 
but  once  a  week,  a  term  of  two  years  for  a  class  under  one  teacher  is 
productive  probably  of  the  best  results. 

5.  For  the  sake  of  the  pupils  it  is  even  more  necessary  to  grade  the 
curriculum  than  to  grade  the  classes.  Even  if  the  Sunday  school  itself 
be  not  graded,  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance  to  grade  the  Bible  and 
other  subject-matter  to  meet  the  respective  intellectual  interests  and 
spiritual  needs  of  pupils  of  different  stages  of  maturity.  Bible  stories, 
particularly  the  stories  of  Jesus,  should  be  taught  during  early  child- 
hood; Old  Testament  history,  from  the  Exodus  to  the  time  of  Christ, 
from  the  tenth  to  the  twelfth  year  of  age;  the  life  of  Christ  and  the 
teaching  of  Jesus,  followed  by  the  lives  and  teachings  of  the  apostles 
from  the  thirteenth  to  the  sixteenth  year  —  the  vital  period  for  conver- 
sion; the  history  of  the  Bible  canon  and  of  the  revelation  of  religion, 
during  the  two  years  following;  and  the  study  of  separate  Bible  books, 

345 


346  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

after  the  eighteenth  year.  The  division  of  the  Bible  and  other  subject- 
matter  necessary  into  two-year  periods,  one  for  each  teacher,  enables 
them  all  to  specialize  upon  a  comparatively  small  portion  of  vi^hat  needs 
to  be  taught  in  the  school  as  a  whole. 

6.  Sunday  schools  may  have  teachers  of  special  subjects,  who  may 
go  from  class  to  class  to  direct  the  teaching  of  Biblical  geography, 
manual  work,  church  history,  missions,  or  for  the  telling  of  stories  that 
may  reiterate  what  may  be  taught  out  of  the  Biblical  material  by  the 
regular  teachers  of  the  classes.  Educational  experts  engaged  in  such 
work  in  public  and  private  schools  may  be  found  for  this  service.  Fre- 
quently a  superintendent  of  public  schools,  for  instance,  may  be  secured 
as  a  supervisor  of  a  Sunday  school,  to  introduce  grading  or  manual 
work.  It  will  require  less  of  his  time  than  it  would  be  necessary  for 
him  to  give  if  he  were  a  regular  teacher  of  a  class.  He  may  serve 
efficiently  as  a  supervisor,  even  if  he  cannot  attend  the  school  every 
Sunday.  Indeed,  he  may  serve  more  than  one  Sunday  school  at  a  time 
in  this  capacity. 

7.  The  speciahzation  of  Sunday-school  teaching  both  reduces  the 
scope  of  knowledge  required  of  each  teacher  and  makes  the  amount 
that  each  has  to  learn  so  definite  that  the  pursuit  of  study  in  training 
classes,  by  correspondence  study  or  home  reading,  becomes  at  once 
less  discouraging  and  more  feasible.  Teachers  will  study  with  a  con- 
centration and  assiduity  not  to  be  approached  under  any  other  system 
of  Sunday-school  organization.  This  has  been  abundantly  proved  in 
experience.  I  know  a  church  where  the  Sunday  school  was  graded 
last  autumn,  and  before  Christmas  the  pastor  had  a  waiting  list  of 
teachers,  none  of  whom  happened  to  be  a  day-school  teacher.  These 
candidates  are  required  to  pass  examinations  before  they  are  permitted 
to  teach  in  the  school. 

8.  The  speciahzation  of  teaching  is  seen  to  be  a  question  of  school 
organization. 


X.    CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIATIONS 


RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  IN  THE  YOUNG  MEN'S 
CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIATIONS 

EDWIN  F.  SEE, 

GENERAL   SECRETARY   OF   THE   YOUNG    MEN'S   CHRISTIAN   ASSOCIATION,    BROOKLYN, 

NEW   YORK 

My  purpose  is  to  survey  the  present  status  of  religious  education 
in  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations  of  North  America,  and  to 
analyze  the  attitude  of  these  Associations,  as  indicated  by  their  doings 
and  literature,  toward  religious  education.  The  paper  will  be  largely 
devoted  to  religious  education  in  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tions through  their  Bible-Study  Department.  A  brief  survey  of  those 
educational  and  scientific  principles  which  are  recognized  and  observed 
in  other  phases  of  its  work  will  be  helpful  by  way  of  introduction. 

I.  In  the  Physical  Department.  It  is  noteworthy  that  this  Depart- 
ment was  the  first  among  the  phases  of  Association  activity  to  come  to  a 
conscious  formulation  of  the  scientific  principles  underlying  its  most 
successful  work.  The  following  are  a  few  of  these  principles:  (i)  The 
conception  of  man  as  a  unit,  and  the  allied  conception  of  the  relation 
of  the  body  to  the  mind.  At  the  International  Convention  of  Young 
Men's  Christian  Associations  in  Philadelphia,  in  1889,  Dr.  Luther 
Halsey  Gulick  made  the  first  formal  statement  of  these  facts  as  applied 
to  the  Associations.  The  conception  of  man  as  a  vmit,  and  of  the  Asso- 
ciation as  a  unit  in  working  for  the  upbuilding  of  man,  was  then  first 
formulated  for  the  Associations.  The  triangle,  standing  in  its  three 
sides  for  the  physical,  the  mental,  and  the  spiritual,  was  then  suggested 
as  an  Association  emblem.  (2)  Coincidently  with  the  formulation  of 
this  principle  came  the  adoption  of  the  kindred  idea  of  all-around  physi- 
cal development  as  opposed  to  specialties  in  sport.  The  Associations 
began  to  urge  that  competition  should  be  adapted  to  the  average  rather 
than  to  the  exceptional  man,  and  their  scheme  of  physical  education 
planned  to  induce  him  to  give  attention  to  his  weak  rather  than  to  his 
strong  points.  (3)  The  element  of  play  in  systematic  physical  educa- 
tion followed  as  a  recognized  principle  in  this  department.  That 
element  which  has  come  to  be  so  largely  utihzed  in  the  pedagogy  of  the 
kindergarten  was  here  introduced  to  relieve  the  tedium  of  physical 
exercise  and  to  give  zest  and  attractiveness  to  the  ordinary  processes 

347 


348  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

of  physical  development.  (4)  One  more  principle  might  be  named  in 
this  connection,  namely,  measurements  according  to  an  anthropometrical 
standard.  A  manual  for  physical  measurements  was  published  by  the 
International  Committee  in  1892,  and  on  the  scientific  basis  thus 
estabhshed  the  physical  examinations  in  most  of  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  gymnasiums  in  the  country  are  conducted,  and 
so  are  brought  into  uniformity  with  scientific  standards.  The  service 
rendered  by  these  measurements  to  the  Physical  Department  are  not 
unlike  that  rendered  to  the  Educational  and  Bible-Study  Departments 
by  the  uniform  examinations  to  which  reference  will  soon  be  made. 

2.  In  the  Educational  Department.  Here  we  have  time  to  fasten 
our  attention  only  upon  the  evening  classes  as  a  phase  of  the  educational 
work  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations.  The  Educational 
Department  has  been  practically  re-created  on  the  basis  of  pedagogical 
principles  since  1893,  when  Mr.  Frederic  B.  Pratt,  of  Pratt  Institute, 
Brooklyn,  became  Chairman,  and  Mr.  George  B.  Hodge,  Secretary  of 
this  Department  for  the  International  Committee.  Evening  classes, 
which  were  previously  regarded  largely  as  places  of  resort  to  attract 
young  men  from  places  of  vice,  without  losing  this  preventive  aspect, 
were  reorganized  on  the  basis  of  acknowledged  educational  principles 
and  have  since  come  to  be  recognized  as  an  educational  agency  in  the 
Educational  Bureau  at  Washington.  Some  of  the  principles  referred 
to  are  as  follows:  (i)  The  adaptation  of  courses  of  instruction  to  the 
characteristics  and  needs  of  students,  involving  careful  assignment  of 
appKcants  to  classes  which  they  are  fitted  to  enter  and  promotion 
according  to  merit.  (2)  The  maintenance  of  a  high  standard  by  means 
of  examinations  and  the  granting  of  certificates,  which  now  have  a  recog- 
nized value  among  over  one  hundred  of  the  leading  universities  and 
colleges  of  the  country.  (3)  The  employment  of  competent  teachers. 
One  thousand  four  hundred  and  thirty  such  teachers  were  paid  by  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Associations  of  the  United  States  and  Canada, 
during  1903,  amounts  aggregating  $111,190.  (4)  The  encouragement 
of  thoroughness.  The  attempt  is  no  longer  generally  made  to  build  up  a 
large  enrolment  at  the  expense  of  quality  of  work.  In  the  interests  of 
thoroughness  students  have  been  dissuaded  from  identifying  themselves 
with  more  than  one  or  two  classes  at  a  time.  Although  30,622  were 
enrolled  in  these  evening  classes  last  year,  and  the  number  is  increasing 
year  by  year,  this  increase  has  been  in  face  of  the  adoption  of  a  system 
of  educational  fees  in  addition  to  the  regular  membership  dues  of  the 
Association  whereby  this  number  of  students  last  year  paid  nearly 
$85,000  for  the  privileges  of  classes  with  which  they  were  identified. 


RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  IN  THE  Y.  M.  C.  A.  349 

3.  In  social  activities.  Social  affiliations  have  been  recognized  in 
the  extending  of  privileges  in  separate  buildings  to  special  classes  of  men, 
as  railroad  men,  students,  soldiers,  sailors.  The  same  principle  has 
been  observed  in  the  arrangement  of  privileges  within  the  individual 
buildings,  under  clubs  of  various  kinds,  in  accordance  with  the  sociologi- 
cal principle  of  "consciousness  of  kind."  It  must  be  confessed  that  the 
Associations  are  but  simply  entering  upon  the  scientific  formulation  of 
their  social  activities,  and  that  in  this  section  of  their  work  they  have  not 
advanced  to  that  degree  of  certainty  and  accuracy  which  characterize 
their  operations  in  the  other  departments  of  their  work.  There  are  two 
ways  of  regarding  the  agencies  above  described  in  their  relation  to  reli- 
gious education:  (i)  There  is  doubtless  a  general  recognition  among  all 
members  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations  of  the  fact  that 
these  agencies — physical,  educational,  social — constitute  a  congenial 
environment  into  which  the  agencies  of  rehgious  education  may  be 
effectively  introduced.  While  not  uniformily  recognized  as  distinctively 
religious  agencies  in  themselves,  they  are  regarded  as  offsetting  hostile 
influences  in  the  Hves  of  young  men,  and  as  providing  an  atmosphere 
favorable  for  the  conduct  of  religious  activities.  Mr.  Fred  B.  Smith 
has  given,  perhaps,  the  best  expression  to  this  conception  in  saying: 
"When  a  man  can  be  brought  most  nearly  to  his  normal  physical  condi- 
tion, he  is  the  most  susceptible  to  definite  rehgious  influences.  The 
man  of  abnormal  physical  Ufe  is  an  easy  prey  to  evil  influences.  The 
overdeveloped  man  in  physical  existence  is  about  the  last  man  to  be 
reached  in  definite  spiritual  fife.  It  becomes  oftentimes  equally  true 
of  the  man  who  is  struggling  with  some  physical  ill,  that  the  impairment 
of  these  physical  powers  makes  him  more  in  danger  of  faUing  into  the 
manifold  temptations  that  he  must  meet.  The  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association  movement  stands  for  normal  physical  development,  thus 
bringing  the  man  as  nearly  as  possible  to  his  best,  and  opening  the  chan- 
nels for  rehgious  life.  The  educational  features  are  also  based  upon 
the  value  of  self-improvement  among  young  men,  and  when  that  process 
begins  in  their  lives,  it  is  only  a  question  of  how  long  it  will  be  in  the 
rising  scale  of  their  lives  before  they  will  be  led  to  reahze  that  the  supreme 
attainment  of  life  is  to  be  a  follower  of  Jesus  Christ."  (2)  But  among 
some  representatives  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations  there 
is  doubtless  an  acceptance  of  a  distinctly  rehgious  value  per  se  in  these 
physical,  educational,  and  social  agencies.  To  such,  man  is  a  unit — 
body,  mind,  spirit.  Religious  education  is  a  part  of  general  education. 
Whatever,  therefore,  makes  for  the  betterment  of  young  men  and 
boys  physically,  intellectually,  or  socially,  makes  also  for  their  religious 


3SO  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION    ASSOCIATION 

betterment.  Especially  would  this  be  recognized  as  being  true  of 
agencies  conducted,  as  those  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
are,  under  religious  auspices  and  environment.  Those  quaUties  which 
come  to  the  athlete — courage,  endurance,  honor — are  regarded  as  being 
only  other  aspects  of  spiritual  qualities,  which  have  the  same  name. 
Whatever  may  be  the  mental  attitude  of  Association  men  as  a  whole 
toward  this  principle,  as  a  matter  of  fact  we  find  it  embodied  in  the 
actual  practice  of  Associations  where  these  departments  are  represented 
in  the  persons  of  a  Physical  Director,  an  Educational  Director,  and  a 
ReHgious  Work  Director,  all  of  whom  co-operate  in  their  ministrations 
to  the  same  man.  No  longer  is  the  body  of  the  man  regarded  as  some- 
thing separate  from  his  personaHty,  to  be  developed  on  exclusively 
physical  lines.  No  longer  is  his  mind  regarded  as  a  separate  entity  to 
be  ministered  to  simply  on  the  intellectual  side.  No  longer  is  the  soul 
regarded  as  something  separate  from  both  body  and  mind,  and  subject 
only  to  so-called  spiritual  laws.  A  recognition  of  the  unity  of  man  has 
brought  about  a  co-ordination  of  the  departments  of  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  to  such  an  extent  that  some  at  least  are  com- 
pelled to  invest  these  agencies,  formerly  called  secular,  with  religious 
value  and  significance. 

4.  In  the  Bible-Study  Department.  We  now  pass  on  to  what  is  in  fact 
the  central  theme  of  this  paper,  the  educational  principles  that  at  pres- 
ent have  recognition  and  observance  in  the  Bible-Study  Department  of 
the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations.  As  has  already  been  seen, 
the  Educational  Department  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations 
was  re-created  on  pedagogical  lines  in  1893.  The  Bible-Study  Depart- 
ment was  reorganized  on  the  basis  of  the  approved  principles  of  religious 
education  in  1898.  The  Bible-Study  Department  of  the  City,  Town, 
and  Railroad  Associations  followed  in  the  lead  of  the  Educational  Depart- 
ment, and  was  much  influenced  by  it.  The  following  scientific  prin- 
ciples have  now  a  distinct  sway  in  this  department : 

(i)  The  principle  of  inductive  Bible  study  has  been  emphasized. 
Inductive  courses,  as  outlined  by  Rev.  William  G.  Ballantine,  LL.D., 
formed  the  basis  of  the  Bible-Study  Department  as  organized  in  1898 
among  City,  Town,  and  Railroad  Associations. 

(2)  The  historical  method  of  Bible  study  has  also  had  recognition. 
In  the  courses  of  study  for  boys  especially,  referred  to  later,  the  historical 
method  has  been  quite  closely  followed.  Mr.  John  R.  Mott  has  said  of 
the  type  of  Bible  study  in  the  Student  Associations  of  North  America 
that  "the  Association  has  stood  for  the  devotional  and  scholarly  study 
of  the  Bible.     It  has  furnished  a  thorough,   constructive,   satisfying 


RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  IN  THE  Y.  M.  C.  A.  351 

mode  of  studying  the  great  documents  of  the  Christian  religion.  It  has 
encouraged  students  to  employ  the  best  historical,  Hterary,  and  scien- 
tific methods,  and  to  carry  forward  their  studies  in  an  unprejudiced, 
fearless,  and  reverent  spirit." 

(3)  Adequate  courses  of  study  have  been  provided.  There  are  now 
forty  of  these — comprehensive,  not  partial;  definite,  not  vague;  practical, 
not  visionary.  Many  of  these  courses  have  been  outlined  especially  for 
the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations  and  a  large  proportion  of  them 
by  Biblical  scholars,  but  always  by  men  familiar  with  the  needs  of  the 
kind  of  students  that  are  found  in  the  Association  Bible  classes.  With 
the  creating  of  a  Bible-Study  Department  in  1898,  a  multiplying  of 
classes  within  the  individual  Associations  was  emphasized,  and  during 
1903  there  were  twenty-seven  Associations  with  an  average  number  of 
fifteen  classes  for  each  Association. 

(4)  A  proper  correlation  of  courses  of  study  has  been  secured.  The 
principle  has  been  emphasized  that  whether  an  Association  maintains 
one  class  or  many,  each  course  of  study  should  be  chosen  with  reference 
to  others  that  the  student  may  have  pursued  previously,  and  with 
reference  to  his  progress  in  subsequent  courses,  and  that  one  course  of 
study  in  an  Association,  if  planned  and  followed  with  this  purpose,  may 
constitute  a  Bible-Study  Department.  In  the  City,  Town,  and  Railroad 
Associations  the  plan  of  study  now  includes:  among  graded  courses  of 
study  for  boys — first  year.  The  Life  of  Christ;  second  year,  The  Men 
of  the  Bible,  particularly  of  the  Old  Testament;  third  year.  The  Travels 
of  Paul;  among  graded  courses  for  men — first  year,  Outline  Studies  in 
Bible  Facts  and  Teachings;  second  year,  The  Life  of  Christ;  third  year. 
Old  Testament  History  and  Biography;  fourth  year.  The  Apostolic 
Church,  History,  and  Teachings.  In  addition  to  these  main  graded 
courses  there  are  also  miscellaneous  courses:  in  training,  for  evangelistic 
classes;  and  special  short-term  or  one-year  courses.  Emphasis,  however, 
is  being  laid  upon  the  main  graded  courses  for  boys  and  men.  In  the 
Student  Associations  five  graded  courses  are  provided,  corresponding 
to  the  preparatory  and  four  college  classes  as  follows:  The  Life  and 
Works  of  Jesus;  The  Life  oi  Christ;  Studies  in  the  Acts  and  Epistles; 
Studies  in  Old  Testament  Characters;  The  Teachings  of  Jesus  and  His 
Apostles.  These  are  used  electively  with  a  series  of  similar  courses 
outlined  and  taught  by  President  Sallmon,  of  Carleton  College,  while 
connected  with  the  Yale  Association. 

The  selection  of  courses  for  the  Association  plan  of  study  is  not  left 
to  the  whim  of  the  hour,  or  even  to  the  evolution  of  an  available  course 
which  promises  useful  results.     The  need  of  new  courses  is  rather  now 


352  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

determined  by  an  inductive  study  of  the  field,  which  resuUs  in  the  recog- 
nition of  a  well-defined  demand  for  a  particular  kind  of  course  for  a 
particular  purpose.  Specifications  are  then  made,  covering  the  elements 
that  should  enter  into  such  a  course;  an  author  is  selected  with  great 
care,  with  reference  both  to  his  scholarship  and  to  his  knowledge  of  the 
Associations'  requirements;  and  he  is  requested  to  prepare  a  course  in 
accordance  with  these  specifications.  This  is  done  with  as  much  care 
as  the  first  plans  of  a  house  are  elaborated  into  working  plans,  specifica- 
tions made,  and  turned  over  to  the  contractor  as  his  guide  in  the  building 
of  the  structure. 

(5)  These  adequate  courses  of  study,  thus  properly  correlated,  have 
also  been  adapted  to  various  classes  of  men  and  boys,  e.  g.,  city  and  town 
young  men,  students,  railroad  men,  shop  men,  and  boys.  While  the 
courses  provided  for  the  Student  Associations  are  included  in  the  plan  of 
study  for  the  City,  Town,  and  Railroad  Associations,  they  are  intended 
primarily  for  the  more  mature  students  of  these  Associations.  A  glance 
at  them  discloses  their  suitabiHty  to  the  environment  of  the  educational 
institution.  For  railroad  men  shorter  courses  have  been  provided, 
notably  one  entitled  "Main  Lines  in  the  Bible."  For  shop  Bible  classes 
still  shorter  and  less  systematic  courses  have  been  necessary.  Prominent 
among  these  is  one  entitled  "Jesus,  the  Toiler."  During  the  year  1903 
shop  classes  were  reported  by  forty-nine  Associations,  and  shop  meetings 
by  ninety-one  Associations,  the  former  taking  up  for  consideration  con- 
nected portions  of  Scripture,  while  the  latter  were  usually  larger,  and  of  a 
more  general  character.  This  would  seem  to  indicate  that  something 
more  than  half  of  the  Associations  ministering  to  this  class  of  men  found 
it  feasible  even  in  this  unfavorable  environment  to  attempt  the  more 
systematic  and  educational  work  represented  by  Bible  classes. 

The  right  of  way  which  has  been  so  largely  given  by  the  Associations 
to  the  prescribed  courses  of  study  for  boys  is  significant.  Although 
they  have  been  in  operation  for  less  than  three  years,  these  courses  are 
now  used  in  more  than  half  of  the  Association  Bible  classes  conducted 
for  boys.  They  are  three  in  number,  namely,  first  year.  Life  of  Christ, 
by  Davis;  second  year.  The  Men  of  the  Bible,  by  Davis;  third  year. 
The  Travels  of  Paul,  by  Jackson.  These  courses  are  objective  rather 
than  subjective,  involving  graphic  and  manual  work  upon  the  part  of 
the  students.  In  these  courses  the  endeavor  is  made  to  conform  to 
modern  educational  methods  in  recognition  of  the  fact  that  there  has 
been  too  great  a  divergence  in  the  past  between  the  methods  of  teaching 
the  Bible  to  boys  and  the  methods  to  which  they  are  accustomed  in  the 
public  and  high  schools.    The  general  adoption  of  these  courses  in  pref- 


RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  IN  THE  Y.  M.  C.  A.  353 

erence  to  a  certain  course,  published  about  the  same  time,  but  wholly 
of  a  subjective  character,  and  not  altogether  different,  except  in  sim- 
plicity of  language,  from  courses  of  Bible  study  prescribed  for  men, 
is  especially  interesting  and  significant. 

The  important  period  of  adolescence  has  been  emphasized  in  the 
literature  of  the  Associations,  especially  in  that  having  to  do  with  their 
Bible-Study  Department.  The  crucial  character  of  this  period  in  its 
relation  to  the  religious  hfe  and  education  of  the  boy  has  had  a  rapidly 
growing  recognition.  The  mental  and  spiritual  traits  which  are  charac- 
teristic of  this  period  have  been  the  subject  of  studies  which  have  found 
a  large  place  in  the  literature  of  the  Associations.  As  a  result  the  normal 
growth  of  the  boy,  by  educational  processes,  in'  ^  a  sane  religious  life 
has  been  encouraged,  and  those  sharp  and  cataclysmic  experiences, 
which  sometimes  come  to  those  of  maturer  years  who  have  not  been 
brought  earlier  in  life  into  normal  relati  ns  with  God,  have  been  dis- 
couraged rather  than  expected.  Perhaps  in  no  phase  of  its  Bible  study 
has  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  more  strictly  adhered  to 
pedagogical  lines  than  in  these  courses  for  boys,  and  the  result  has  amply 
justified  the  methods  adopted.  The  number  of  boys  in  Bible  classes 
has  increased  from  2,290  in  1899  to  9,425  in  1903,  while  more  generally 
than  in  former  years  these  are  boys  from  thirteen  to  eighteen  years  of 
age,  a  period  in  which  it  has  been  regarded  as  most  difficult  to  hold  them 
in  Sunday-school  classes. 

(6)  For  the  classes  pursuing  these  courses  of  study,  scientific  in 
character,  adequate  in  scope,  properly  correlated,  and  adapted  to 
various  classes  of  men  and  boys,  competent  instruction  has  also  been 
provided.  Teachers  are  chosen  more  with  reference  to  their  fitness, 
and  less  with  reference  simply  to  their  availabihty,  than  formerly.  The 
following  shows  the  classification  of  Association  Bible-class  teachers  in 
City,  Town,  and  Railroad  Associations  in  1903:  clergymen,  nine  per 
cent.;  professors  and  teachers,  four  per  cent. ;  lawyers  and  physicians, 
two  per  cent. ;  business  men,  two  per  cent. ;  clerks,  students,  mechanics, 
etc.,  twenty-two  percent.;  Physical  Directors,  six  percent.;  Secretaries, 
Assistants,  Religious  Work  and  Educational  Work  Directors,  fifty-five 
per  cent.  It  will  be  seen  from  these  figures  that  fifteen  per  cent,  of  the 
teaching  forces  of  the  Association  Bible  classes  are  composed  of  men  who 
are  usually  provided  with  a  liberal  education,  namely,  clergymen,  pro- 
fessors and  teachers,  lawyers,  and  physicians.  Doubtless  many  of  the 
business  men,  who  constitute  two  per  cent.,  and  of  the  clerks,  students, 
and  mechanics,  who  constitute  twenty-two  per  cent.,  as  well  as  of  the 
Association  employees,  who  constitute  fifty-five  per  cent,  of  the  teaching 


354  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

force,  are  also  men  who  have  been  Hberally  educated;  while  of  a  very 
large  proportion  it  might  be  said  that  they  are  men  of  trained  minds, 
accustomed  to  think,  and  fully  familiar  with  the  class  of  men  with  whom 
they  are  set  to  deal.  In  some  cases  expert  Biblical  scholars  from 
neighboring  universities,  colleges,  or  seminaries  have  been  engaged. 
In  1903  twenty-eight  Associations  had  one  or  more  teachers  who  were 
paid  for  their  services.  While  it  is  not  a  recognized  rule  that  Bible-class 
teachers  outside  of  the  employees  should  be  paid  for  their  services,  the 
conviction  of  the  Association  movement  is  not  against  such  payment, 
especially  where  it  will  secure  more  competent  instruction.  In  the 
Student  Associations,  while  the  co-operation  of  hundreds  of  college 
professors  has  been  secured  in  the  work  of  teaching,  special  stress  has 
been  laid  on  utilizing  and  developing  student  leaders,  who  have  received 
special  assistance  through  correspondence  with  the  Student  Department 
of  the  International  Committee,  or  by  attendance  at  the  Student  Summer 
Conferences  at  Northfield,  Mass.,  Lake  Geneva,  Wis.,  and  in  other 
sections  of  the  country. 

Special  attention  has  been  given  since  1 903  to  the  training  of  teachers 
for  classes  in  the  City,  Town,  and  Railroad  Associations.  A  special 
course,  outlined  for  the  purpose  of  applying  the  elementary  principles  of 
pedagogy  to  Biblical  instruction,  accompanied  by  the  teaching  of  experi- 
mental lessons  by  students  of  these  classes  in  the  light  of  these  principles, 
has  been  outlined.  In  1903  there  were  five  such  classes,  with  seventy- 
six  students;  in  1904,  twenty  classes,  with  two  hundred  students.  The 
course  in  the  meantime  has  been  taught  at  the  Summer  Conferences  at 
Lake  George  and  Lake  Geneva,  and  is  now  being  put  into  permanent 
form,  looking  to  a  further  development  of  this  movement  for  the  increase 
of  a  trained  teaching  force. 

(7)  For  these  multipUed  and  multiplying  classes  following  courses 
of  studies,  scientific  and  adequate  in  character,  properly  correlated, 
adapted  to  various  classes  of  men  and  boys,  and  with  competent  instruc- 
tion, intelligent  supervision  was  demanded  and  has  been  supplied.  In 
connection  with  each  Bible-Study  Department  the  organization  of  a 
Committee  on  Bible  Study  has  been  emphasized.  The  importance  of 
Bible-Study  Committees,  separately  organized  or  as  subcommittees  of 
a  general  ReHgious  Work  Committee,  is  now  recognized  wherever  the 
value  of  a  Bible-Study  Department  is  appreciated.  The  Religious 
Work  Directorate,  first  operative  in  1898,  has  come  to  be  a  recognized 
phase  of  the  Association  Secretaryship,  and  there  are  now  twenty-five 
such  men,  two  of  whom  are  designated  specifically  as  "Bible-Study 
Secretaries."      Besides  these,  there  is  a  Bible-Study  and  Literature 


RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  IN  THE  Y.  M.  C.  A.  355 

Division  of  the  Religious  Work  Department  of  the  International  Com- 
mittee for  City,  Town,  and  Railroad  Associations,  in  charge  of  Mr. 
Fred  S.  Goodman,  and  a  similar  bureau  of  supervision  for  the  Student 
Associations  in  charge  of  Mr.  Clayton  S.  Cooper. 

The  co-operation  of  scholarly  men,  not  simply  as  authors  of  courses 
and  teachers  of  classes,  but  also  as  advisors  to  supervisory  committees 
for  the  movement  as  a  whole,  and  for  the  Department  of  the  local 
Association,  has  been  solicited  and  secured.  The  most  recent  achieve- 
ment of  this  kind  is  the  organization  of  an  exceedingly  representative 
committee  of  Biblical  scholars,  reflecting  various  shades  of  Biblical 
interpretation,  and  identified  with  the  leading  universities  of  the  country, 
to  have  an  advisory  relation  to  the  entire  Bible-study  movement  of  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Associations,  including  the  Student  Associa- 
tions on  the  one  hand,  and  the  City,  Town,  and  Railroad  Associations 
on  the  other. 

(8)  To  the  students  doing  satisfactory  work  in  the  classes,  con- 
ducted under  the  principles  already  designated,  examinations  and  certifi- 
cates have  been  granted.  Following  the  lead  of  the  Educational  Depart- 
ment, the  Bible-Study  Department  in  1899  arranged  for  examinations 
and  commenced  the  issuing  of  certificates.  While  it  has  been  found 
difficult  to  domesticate  this  educational  feature  in  the  Bible-Study 
Department,  the  fact  that  last  year  163  students  passed  International 
examinations  in  Bible  study,  which  were  conducted  in  accordance  with 
the  strict  regulations  of  the  Educational  Department,  indicates  the  care- 
ful and  systematic  work  that  is  being  done  in  this  Department  among  a 
considerable  number  of  the  Associations.  The  very  announcement 
of  such  examinations  and  certificates  has  doubtless  had  an  uncon- 
scious influence  upon  the  Associations  in  raising  their  standard  in  this 
department. 

In  spite  of  (or  perhaps  because  of)  the  high  standard  set  for  the 
conduct  of  the  work  in  this  Department  there  has  been  a  great  increase 
in  the  volume  of  work  done.  In  1903  44,980  students  were  actually 
enrolled  in  the  Bible  classes  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations 
— 31,300  in  City,  Town,  and  Railroad  Associations,  and  13,680  in 
Student  Associations.  It  is  well  within  the  mark  for  us  to  say  that  there 
are  now  fifty  thousand  students  in  Bible  classes  in  these  Associations. 
The  rate  of  increase  in  the  number  of  students  during  the  past  five  years 
has  been  from  five  thousand  to  six  thousand  students  per  annum. 


AGENCIES   FOR   RELIGIOUS   EDUCATION   IN   ADDITION 
TO  BIBLE  STUDY  IN  THE  Y.  M.  C.  A. 

BY  L.  L.  DOGGETT,  Ph.D., 

PRESIDENT  INTERNATIONAL  YOUNG  MEN'S  CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIATION  TRAINING 
SCHOOL,   SPRINGFIELD,   MASSACHUSETTS 

We  recognize  today  that  there  is  no  difference  between  the  secular 
and  the  sacred  in  the  sight  of  God.  All  effort  inspired  and  animated 
by  the  Christian  spirit  is  Christian  work.  But  in  the  interest  of  clear 
thinking  we  need  a  term  that  will  separate  in  thought  the  Bible  class, 
the  gospel  meeting,  and  similar  activities,  from  other  service  for  men, 
in  the  physical,  social,  and  educational  departments.  Now,  there  is 
no  term  so  satisfactory  as  "religious."  It  is  no  reflection  on  the  employ- 
ment secretary  and  his  work  to  have  a  Religious  Department  in  the 
Association.  The  work  of  all  Departments  is  Christian,  it  is  done  for 
Christ.  The  difficulty  is  to  find  some  term  besides  "secular"  to  define 
other  forms  of  Christian  effort;  for  convenience  in  this  paper  I  shall 
use  the  terms  "welfare  work"  and  "welfare  agencies."  Christian 
effort  is  then  the  broad,  comprehensive  term,  and  it  is  divided  into 
two  kinds — religious  work  and  welfare  work.  What  is  rehgious  effort  ? 
It  is  threefold — work  which  aims  to  win  men  to  the  rehgious  Ufe,  to 
develop  their  character,  and  to  lead  them  into  service.  To  carry  out 
these  three  aims  we  have  two  forms  of  effort — the  evangelistic  and 
the  educational.  In  almost  every  Christian  activity  both  of  these  ele- 
ments appear.  There  is  development  of  Christian  character  as  a  result 
of  evangelistic  meetings,  and  conversions  sometimes  follow  a  missionary 
meeting;  but  evangelistic  effort  is  that  form  of  rehgious  work,  whether 
in  meetings,  Bible  classes,  or  personal  work,  where  the  chief  emphasis 
is  on  presenting  Jesus  Christ  as  the  Savior  of  men;  while  rehgious  edu- 
cation is  that  form  of  religious  effort,  whether  in  meetings,  classes,  clubs, 
or  otherwise,  where  the  chief  emphasis  is  on  the  developing  of  char- 
acter and  the  training  for  service. 

This  paper  is  not  born  of  any  indifference  to  Bible  study,  or  the 
place  which  it  should  occupy  in  a  religious  education.  The  study  of 
the  Bible,  its  characters,  its  teachings,  its  literature,  is  the  fundamental 
thing  in  a  religious  education,  and  should  have  the  central  place.  This 
paper  is  not  an  outgrowth  of  satisfaction  with  the  present  Bible  study 
in  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association.  Much  progress  has  been 
made  in  this  direction,  but  much  of  it  is  yet  superficial  and  inadequate. 

356 


GENERAL  AGENCIES  FOR  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION      357 

It  must  be  better  done,  and  will  be  better  done.  Nor  is  this  study  the 
result  of  a  lack  of  sympathy  with  evangelistic  work,  or  the  place  which 
evangelistic  meetings  hold  in  religious  development.  Neither  is  this 
paper  written  as  an  advocate  of  any  definite  policy  of  expansion  of 
religious  activities  on  the  part  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tion. It  is  an  investigation  to  ascertain  the  facts  and  the  needs  under 
present-day  conditions,  following  the  suggestions  in  Dr.  Ballantine's 
address  at  the  first  Convention  of  the  Rehgious  Education  Association. 

The  object  of  this  paper  is  to  discuss  the  all-around  problem  of  the 
religious  education  of  young  men  and  boys,  the  elements  which  enter 
into  it,  and,  assuming  that  the  Association  is  already  committed  to 
Bible  study,  to  discuss  what  other  lines  of  study  and  training  are  desir- 
able. The  forms  of  religious  education  discussed  here  are  not  to  be 
confused  with  Bible  study.  If  this  should  be  developed,  it  would  become 
a  department  of  religious  knowledge  and  effort.' 

This  paper  will  consider:  (i)  What  has  been  the  attitude  of  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association  in  the  past  toward  religious  edu- 
cation ?  (2)  What  constitutes  a  religious  education  for  a  boy  and  young 
man  ?  (3)  What  share,  in  addition  to  Bible  study,  should  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  have  in  promoting  this  ? 

I.  The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  was  established  in 
London  as  an  evangelistic  effort  for  the  winning  of  young  men  into  the 
Christian  life.  During  the  greater  part  of  its  history  this  has  been  the 
characteristic  feature  of  the  Association's  religious  effort.  In  England 
this  was  accomplished  through  evangelistic  Bible  classes;  in  this  country, 
through  the  establishment  of  men's  gospel  meetings.  At  first  these 
were  largely  testimony  meetings,  but  in  recent  years  they  have  become 
platform  meetings,  in  which  a  direct  appeal  for  the  immediate  accept- 
ance of  Christ  is  made  by  the  speaker.  Personal  work  and  other  forms 
of  evangelistic  effort  have  characterized  the  Association's  development. 
The  paper  by  Mr.  See  has  pointed  out  how  the  Association  in  America 
gradually  came  to  introduce  the  study  of  the  Bible  for  religious  devel- 
opment. This  was  the  first  step  in  promoting  religious  education  as 
distinct  from  evangelistic  effort.  As  a  result  of  these  efforts,  Bible  instruc- 
tion has  taken  a  place  beside  evangelistic  effort  as  one  of  the  religious 

■  Some  of  the  sources  consulted  are:  Froebel's  Educaliottal  Laws;  Professor  E.  D.  Starbuck's 
Psychology  of  Religion;  Principles  of  Religious  Education,  a  volume  of  addresses  published  by  the 
Episcopal  Sunday  School  Commission  of  New  York;  Dr.  William  B.  Forbush's  The  Boy  Problem;  the 
Proceedings  of  the  First  Convention  of  the  Religious  Education  Association;  three  articles  by  Rev. 
Newton  M.  Hall,  of  Springfield,  Mass.,  in  the  Christian  Work  and  Evangelist  for  1903,  on  "The  Prob- 
lem of  Religious  Education;"  President  H.  C.  King's  Christian  Training  and  the  Revival  as  Methods 
of  Converting  Men,  published  by  the  Secretarial  Institute,  Chicago,  111.;  several  articles  by  Dr.  W.  G. 
Ballantine. 


3S8  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

agencies  of  the  Association.  The  courses  of  study  outlined  by  the 
International  Committee,  the  character  of  the  instruction  given  in  the 
local  Associations,  the  expert  teachers  who  have  been  secured  for  this 
work,  and  the  large  number  of  young  men  who  have  entered  the  Associa- 
tion Bible  classes,  place  this  work  upon  a  high  plane.  It  is  one  of  the 
most  satisfactory  examples  of  popular  Bible  instruction  which  is  now 
being  given,  and  there  are  now  in  the  neighborhood  of  fifty  thousand 
young  men  pursuing  such  study  in  the  student,  city,  railroad,  army  and 
navy,  and  other  Associations  on  this  continent. 

Is  there  to  be  a  further  development  ?  Is  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association  to  become  one  of  the  chief  agencies  of  the  church  for  the 
more  general  religious  education  of  young  men  ?  There  is  undoubtedly 
increasing  conviction  among  religious  leaders  at  large  that  something 
in  addition  to  exhortation  and  Bible  instruction  is  needed  for  the  all- 
around  reUgious  education  of  a  boy  and  young  man.  The  past  two 
or  three  years  have  seen  a  good  deal  of  experiment  in  the  Association. 
Mr.  Augustus  Nash  of  Cleveland,  Mr.  C.  F.  PowHson  of  the  West  Side 
Branch  in  New  York,  Mr.  W.  K.  Cooper  at  Springfield,  Mass.,  and 
others,  have  already  tested  the  value  of  the  study  of  reUgious  subjects, 
particularly  of  the  Ufe-problems  of  young  men.  There  have  also  been 
biographical  studies  of  modern  reUgiou§  leaders  in  a  number  of  Asso- 
ciations. Dr.  Howard  Agnew  Johnston's  "Studies  for  Personal  Workers" 
give  biographical  studies  of  eighteen  characters.  In  the  Student  Depart- 
ment, which  has  led  in  so  many  phases  of  our  religious  work,  the  largest 
effort  of  the  kind  which  is  being  made  today  on  an  organized  scale  is 
being  carried  on  in  the  mission  study  classes.  Two  hundred  and 
eighteen  classes  are  now  being  carried  on  in  the  Student  Department, 
with  3,246  students.  This  is  a  remarkable  endeavor  in  religious  edu- 
cation. In  fact,  it  has  grown  to  be  a  great  and  well-organized  depart- 
ment with  employed  officers. 

In  the  church  at  large  there  is  an  awakening  of  interest  in  this  sub- 
ject. The  men's  clubs  and  leagues  which  are  already  taking  federated 
form  illustrate  the  desire  for  this  additional  rehgious  study.  One  such 
club  in  Massachusetts  has  during  the  past  winter  been  studying  such 
subjects  as:  wise  and  unwise  benevolence,  prison  reforms  needed,  right 
and  wrong  uses  of  money,  the  library's  function  and  place  in  a  modern 
town.  Sunday  schools  are  also  furnishing  such  instruction.  A  Ver- 
mont church  has  a  men's  seminar,  led  by  the  pastor,  which  has  been 
studying  the  following  topics:  the  church,  the  social  teachings  of  Jesus, 
the  family  and  the  social  order.  The  analysis  of  this  last  topic  is  instruc- 
tive: (i)  caste  or  social  cleavage;  (2)  the  race-problem;  (3)  intemperance 


GENERAL  AGENCIES  FOR  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION      359 

— has  high  h'cense  in  Vermont  justified  the  claims  of  its  advocates? 
(4)  the  problem  of  the  poor;  (5)  what  to  do  with  criminal  classes.  One 
of  the  most  satisfactory  of  these  efforts  is  that  conducted  the  past  year 
by  Dr.  W.  G.  Ballantine  at  the  Hartford,  Conn.,  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association,  and  at  the  First  Congregational  Church  at  Springfield, 
Mass.  These  two  classes  enrol  one  hundred  young  men.  They  have 
studied  chiefly  social  questions,  such  as  prisons,  hospitals  and  asylums, 
poor-relief,  drink,  the  social  evil,  juvenile  deUnquents,  amusements, 
housing  of  the  poor,  benevolent  agencies.  Dr.  Ballantine  was  the  first 
to  call  attention  to  the  opportunity  which  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association  has  for  systematic  religious  education  to  young  men  in 
these  fines. 

Another  phase  of  religious  effort  which  has  marked  vigor  today  in 
the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  is  interest  in  foreign  missionary 
service.  In  the  college  Associations  this  expresses  itself  in  securing 
volunteers  for  the  foreign  field,  in  raising  money,  in  missionary  study, 
and  in  circulating  missionary  literature.  In  the  city  Associations  this 
interest  has  chiefly  expressed  itself  in  missionary  meetings,  and  in  sup- 
porting Association  secretaries  in  foreign  fields  for  Christian  work 
among  young  men. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
has  four  phases  of  religious  effort:  (i)  evangehstic  work;  (2)  rehgious 
education — chiefly  Bible  study;  (3)  personal  work;  (4)  missions.  While 
religious  education  and  missions  are  of  later  origin  than  evangelistic 
meetings  and  personal  effort,  they  have  already  become  characteristic 
of  the  Association. 

In  a  questionnaire  sent  out  to  a  selected  group  of  leading  secretaries 
and  other  officers,  from  which  forty-nine  replies  were  received,  one  of  the 
questions  asked  was:  Do  you  regard  it  as  the  province  of  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  to  undertake  the  religious  education  of 
boys  and  young  men?  One  secretary  rephed  "no;"  seven  replied, 
"to  a  degree;"  thirty- three  answered  in  the  affirmative;  one  says,  "I 
think  so,  if  attractive  courses  were  outlined;"  another,  "Yes,  especially 
those  who  do  not  have  the  training  at  home;"  another,  "Yes,  if  you  do 
not  restrict  the  term  'religious;'  "  another,  "Yes,  in  the  broad  sense 
of  education;  our  main  Une  is  in  the  direction  of  activity  and  service;" 
another,  "Without  this  aim  we  had  better  go  out  of  business."  It  will 
thus  be  seen  that  the  large  majority  of  these  repUes  are  in  favor  of 
introducing  the  study  of  additional  subjects. 

2.  The  second  question  which  we  are  to  consider  is:  What  properly 
constitutes  a  reUgious  education  for  a  boy  or  young  man  ?     Let  us  ask 


36o  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

ourselves,  What  is  meant  by  the  term  "rehgious  education"  as  applied 
to  young  men  and  boys  ?  Education  has  come  to  mean  a  larger  thing 
than  intellectual  training.  It  covers  two  broad  departments:  (i)  the 
imparting  of  knowledge;  (2)  the  development  of  the  faculties.  We  rec- 
ognize today  that  the  development  of  the  faculties  requires  the  develop- 
ment of  the  whole  man — body,  mind,  and  spirit.  Froebel  and  Herbart, 
the  two  pioneers  of  modern  education,  both  agree  in  declaring  that 
education  must  aim  at  the  development  of  moral  character.  They 
believed  that  the  surest  way  to  attain  this  end  was  to  find  out  how  a 
boy  could  work  out  his  own  best  development,  and  then  help  him  to  do 
so.  Froebel  held  that  the  hfe-process  is  a  unit;  that  development  must 
include  not  only  the  intellect,  but  the  body  and  the  soul  as  well;  that 
real  education  consists  in  the  developing  of  the  man — body,  mind,  and 
spirit;  and  that  education  should  be  adapted  to  the  age  of  the  pupil  in 
order  that  just  such  development  will  be  produced  as  is  the  appropriate 
expression  of  the  age  to  which  he  has  attained.  This  seems  to  be  the 
view  of  nearly  all  writers  of  modern  education,  that  it  should  aim  to 
develop  character.  It  is  the  aim,  then,  of  education  to  prepare  men  for 
life,  and  to  give  them  a  healthy  body,  a  vigorous,  well-stored  mind,  and 
the  highest  possible  moral  power. 

It  will  be  recognized  by  many  that  this  ideal  of  education  advocated 
many  years  ago  by  Froebel  embodies  the  aim  of  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association.  Rehgious  education  has  the  same  place  in  edu- 
cation which  reUgion  holds  in  life.  Education  aims  to  do  two  things: 
(i)  to  give  instruction;  (2)  to  develop  the  faculties.  Rehgious  education 
then  aims:  (i)  to  give  religious  instruction;  (2)  to  train  the  rehgious 
and  moral  faculties,  that  is,  to  develop  character.  We  have  before  us 
then  two  problems:  (i)  What  rehgious  knowledge  and  information  is 
it  necessary  for  young  men  and  boys  to  have  today  ?  (2)  What  training 
wiU  best  develop  the  religious  and  moral  nature,  and  thus  produce 
character  ? 

I  have  not  found  it  practicable  to  make  a  study  of  what  phases  of 
rehgious  education  are  suited  to  the  different  stages  of  development  of 
boys  and  young  men.  That  is  a  large  question  which  can  be  deter- 
mined only  by  long  experiment  and  study.  Speaking  broadly,  and 
following  Professor  Starbuck,  the  rehgious  education  for  any  particular 
period  should  seek  to  develop  the  dominant  interest  of  that  stage  of 
growth  and  to  prepare  for  the  next.  Now,  the  dominant  characteristic 
of  childhood  is  imitation,  and  the  central  precept  to  be  inculcated  is 
obedience.  This  is  best  done  in  the  home  under  parental  authority 
and  by  example.     The  dominant  characteristic  of  adolescence  is  self- 


GENERAL  AGENCIES  FOR  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION      361 

assertion — the  boy  is  finding  himself  in  the  world.  He  needs  spiritual 
guidance  and  instruction  and  the  opportunity  for  self-expression.  This 
ought  to  express  itself  in  conversion.  The  characteristic  of  the  adult 
ought  to  be  strength  and  self-mastery,  and  it  ought  to  express  expression 
in  service.  However,  my  problem  here  is  not  to  adapt  reHgious  educa- 
tion to  the  different  stages  of  growth,  but  to  ask  what  ought  to  charac- 
terize reHgious  education  for  all  stages. 

It  is  remarkable  that  while  we  have  a  pretty  definite  idea  of  what 
constitutes  a  general  education,  and  a  pretty  clear  idea  of  what  consti- 
tutes a  professional  training  for  reUgious  callings,  we  have  no  standard 
of  measuring  a  reHgious  education.  We  have  a  method  of  determining 
whether  a  man  is  prepared  for  the  ministry,  but  no  standard  to  hold  up 
before  a  young  man  for  the  attainment  of  reHgious  knowledge  or  char- 
acter. President  Butler  has  given  as  the  elements  of  a  Hberal  education 
five  things:  (i)  correctness  in  the  use  of  one's  mother-tongue;  (2)  refine- 
ment of  manners;  (3)  the  habit  of  reflection;  (4)  the  power  to  grow; 
(5)  the  power  to  do.  On  a  somewhat  similar  analogy,  it  might  be 
said  that  reHgious  education  consists:  (i)  in  a  degree  of  proficiency 
in  the  Christian  and  manly  virtues,  that  is,  character;  (2)  in  a  knowledge 
of  God's  revelation  to  men  through  the  Bible;  (3)  in  a  knowledge  of 
religious  history,  human  relationships,  modern  needs,  and  personal 
obligations;  (4)  in  equipment  for  and  share  in  some  form  of  Christian 
service  for  the  extension  of  Christ's  Kingdom;  (5)  in  personal  religious 
exercises. 

From  the  answers  received,  it  would  appear  that  for  young  boys 
and  children  the  home,  the  Sunday  school,  and  to  a  considerable  extent 
the  church  services  are  the  chief  agencies  in  religious  education  and  are 
reasonably  effective.  It  would  also  seem  that  in  the  adolescent  period, 
as  has  frequently  been  pointed  out,  conversion  should  be  the  main 
objective.  In  response  to  the  question,  What  agencies  have  contributed 
chiefly  to  your  religious  education  since  your  conversion  ?  there  were  a 
considerable  variety  of  answers:  Thirty-three  repHed,  Bible  study; 
thirty-one,  Christian  work  for  others.  A  group  of  answers  embodied 
the  idea  of  the  study  of  religious  subjects;  eleven  stated  study  of  the 
needs  of  the  world;  twenty-five,  religious  literature  and  biography;  ten, 
the  study  of  Christian  missions;  and  ten,  the  inspiration  of  Christian 
heroes.  Another  group  of  answers  centered  around  the  idea  of  religious 
exercises;  twenty-nine  stated  prayer;  eighteen,  church  attendance;  ten, 
association  with  reHgious  people;  four,  class  meetings;  four,  meetings  of 
the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association;  one,  evangelistic  meetings;  and 
one,  the  Christian  Endeavor  Society. 


362  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

In  answer  to  the  question,  What  studies  or  activities  do  you  think 
ought  to  enter  into  the  religious  education  of  a  boy  or  young  man  ? 
twenty-nine  mentioned  Bible  study,  saying  Bible  characters  appealed 
to  them  most  as  boys;  Bible  study  first  of  all;  the  Bible  pre-eminently; 
appU cations  of  the  teachings  of  the  New  Testament  to  the  personal  life; 
a  study  of  the  laws  of  the  Old  Testament;  primarily  Bible  study  that 
awakens  devotional  spirit.  It  is  apparent  that  the  Bible  should  be  given 
the  first  place  in  religious  education.  One  group  of  answers  centered 
around  the  study  of  missions.  Christian  history,  biography,  Christian 
literature,  and  the  social  and  ethical  questions  of  one's  personal  life; 
sixteen  state  biography  and  Christian  literature;  ten  speak  of  church 
history,  and  six  of  missions;  one  of  these  said  a  study  of  the  Kingdom 
as  a  movement  in  which  the  young  man  has  a  part;  another,  the  study 
of  Christian  activities  as  a  real  warfare.  Another  group  of  answers 
centered  around  the  social  and  ethical  problems  in  the  life  of  young  men; 
one  said  the  study  of  man — his  duty  to  himself,  physical,  mental,  social, 
spiritual — and  the  relations  of  men  according  to  the  Christ  (his  duty  to 
others);  another,  social  and  ethical  study;  another,  a  study  of  man 
individually  and  collectively.  Thirty-five,  the  largest  number,  empha- 
sized the  importance  of  Christian  activity,  either  personal  work  and 
aggressive  efforts  for  others,  or  the  practice  of  personal  religious  exer- 
cises for  one's  personal  development.  Among  the  answers  are:  aggres- 
sive Christian  work  for  others;  work  requiring  sacrifice;  personal  work; 
leading  others  to  Christ;  stewardship;  teaching  a  Bible  class;  active 
participation  in  Christian  work  for  others;  such  activities  of  a  personal 
or  of  an  organized  character  as  shall  best  suit  one's  talent  and  feed  his 
sense  of  responsibility ;  doing  definite  things  for  others  that  call  for  sacri- 
fice. Ten  of  these  answers  speak  of  the  value  of  prayer,  worship,  and 
public  confession;  one  says,  the  opportunity  for  self-experience  is  vital; 
another,  a  right  relation  to  the  Christ  at  the  outset  would  seem  to  be 
essential;  another,  encouragement  in  the  culture  of  the  prayer  life. 
These  replies  seem  to  indicate  that  the  five  lines  mentioned  above  are 
the  great  elements  in  religious  education. 

The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  in  its  work  of  religious 
education  in  the  past  has  had  in  mind  the  development  of  character 
rather  than  the  giving  of  religious  instruction.  This  development  is  cer- 
tainly the  greatest  element,  and  yet  it  would  be  a  short-sighted  policy  to 
forget  the  great  place  which  religious  knowledge  occupies.  Knowledge  is 
power,  and  much  of  the  failure  in  Christian  activity  and  effort  is  due 
to  a  lack  of  acquaintance  with  rehgious  facts  and  human  needs.  The 
definitions  of  religious  education  which  we  have  considered  all  point  to 


GENERAL  AGENCIES  FOR  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION      363 

the  fitting  of  the  young  man  for  life.  Therefore,  the  kind  of  rehgious 
knowledge  and  training  which  is  needed  is  that  which  will  bring  the 
student  into  relation  with  the  life  of  the  present  day.  The  religious 
knowledge  which  a  boy  and  young  man  should  acquire  must  be  that 
which  is  up  to  date  and  useful  to  him  under  a  present-day  environment. 

We  have  spoken  of  the  imparting  of  religious  knowledge ;  let  us  turn 
now  to  a  study  of  the  training  of  the  religious  faculties  and  the  moral 
and  spiritual  nature. 

It  is  one  of  the  chief  functions  of  education  to  develop  the  faculties, 
and  therefore  it  is  the  function  of  a  religious  education  to  train  the 
religious  and  moral  senses,  and  thus  produce  character.  The  study  of 
the  Bible  in  a  devotional  way  certainly  contributes  to  this  end.  Enga- 
ging in  rehgious  exercises  is  also  fundamental,  and  Christian  activity  for 
others  reacts  upon  the  one  engaging  in  it  for  his  own  development.  The 
seat  of  moral  character  is  in  the  will,  the  executive  faculty  of  man,  the  seat 
of  authority,  his  regal  power.  The  intellect  may  be  stored  with  theories 
of  ethics,  and  a  knowledge  of  right  conduct,  but  the  conscience  and  the 
will  are  necessary  in  order  to  produce  right  conduct.  Mr.  Hughes,  in 
writing  of  Froebel's  Laws  of  Education,  says  that  Froebel  insisted  that 
character  is  formed  by  living  the  principles  of  truth,  justice,  and  free- 
dom, and  not  by  learning  them.  He  objected  to  formal  lessons  in  duty, 
morality,  and  religion  jor  children,  because  he  believed  it  to  be  impos- 
sible to  convey  knowledge  in  regard  to  these  questions  until  their  funda- 
mental elements  had  entered  into  the  mind  from  experience.  He  made 
morality  depend  on  true  living  in  the  home  and  in  the  school,  on  the 
awakening  of  the  ideal  as  a  counterpoise  to  the  sensual.  In  other  words, 
experience  must  be  the  basis  of  moral  knowledge. 

Now,  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  fulfils  these  conditions 
for  the  boy  and  young  man  in  a  considerable  degree  as  the  home  does 
for  the  child,  in  that  it  offers  opportunity  for  self -activity  and  the  expres- 
sion of  one's  own  individuality.  Education  was  formerly  dominated  by 
the  principle  of  authority,  and  this  is  true  still  in  childhood.  The  modern 
plan  urges  that  character  must  be  developed  by  spontaneous,  creative 
self-activity  on  the  part  of  the  student,  and  that  this  must  be  awakened 
by  appealing  to  the  student's  dominant  interest.  The  Association  does 
these  things  through  its  various  welfare  and  religious  activities.  The 
gymnasium  with  its  vigorous  games  and  athletic  events  develops  self- 
activity,  self-control,  moral  power,  and  thus  trains  the  will.  By  its 
self-government.  Christian  work,  and  personal  religious  effort,  the 
Association  offers  a  scheme  somewhat  like  the  George  Junior  Republic 
to  a  boy  or  young  man — a  place  where  he  can  share  in  activity  and 


364  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

develop  will-power.  The  welfare  agencies  of  the  Association  thus  con- 
tribute to  religious  training  because  they  give  an  opportunity  for  real 
living  under  a  wholesome  environment.  The  Association  is  a  place  for 
voluntary  activity.  In  its  Christian  effort,  through  the  personal  contact 
which  it  creates  between  Christian  and  non-Christian  men,  through 
employed  officers,  and  in  other  ways,  it  educates  the  emotional  and  the 
instinctive  nature. 

3.  We  pass  now  to  the  last  consideration:  What  share  should  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association  have  in  the  religious  education  of 
young  men  and  boys  ?  First,  shall  it  add  to  its  present  scheme  of  reli- 
gious instruction  ?  Three  questions  in  the  questionnaire  sent  out  were 
asked  regarding  what  knowledge  might  be  taught  in  the  Association. 
One  question  was,  "Could  your  Association  successfully  attempt  classes 
in  religious  movements.  Christian  biography,  modern  missions,  the 
religious  development  of  the  United  States,  or  the  activity  of  the  modern 
church?"  Five  answered  no,  and  four  thought  it  doubtful;  one  states 
"We  have  attempted  modern  missions  and  failed,  but  Christian  biogra- 
phy has  been  introduced  with  success,  and  some  attention  has  been  given 
to  the  institutional  church;"  another  says,  "It  hardly  seems  feasible  yet, 
although  it  might  be  soon;"  another,  "Yes,  all  of  these;  but  the  demand 
from  young  men  would  be  very  limited — it  would  require  hard  work  to 
pick  out  students;"  another,  "I  doubt  if  more  than  occasional  lectures 
could  be  made  practical  on  these  subjects;"  twenty-two,  however,  an- 
swered in  the  affirmative;  one  says,  "Yes,  through  the  organization  of 
clubs;"  another,  "Yes,  if  it  were  given  the  same  intelligent  leadership 
that  is  given  to  educational  work  or  Bible  study;"  another,  "Yes,  if  it 
had  money  enough;"  another,  "I  think  so,  if  attractive  courses  were 
outlined;"  another,  "I  think  so — await  such  courses  with  eagerness;" 
two  report  that  they  are  doing  such  work  through  a  "good  citizens' 
club."  It  is  apparent  that  very  little  is  now  being  done  in  the  city 
Associations  to  give  instruction  in  religious  history,  missions,  the  develop- 
ment of  great  religious  movements,  or  the  study  of  Christian  biography, 
though  it  ought  to  be  noted  that  in  connection  with  many  training  classes 
some  study  is  given  to  the  lives  and  methods  of  modern  leaders  in  Chris- 
tian work.  The  fact,  however,  that  such  a  large  number  of  the  replies 
express  the  conviction  that  such  courses  could  be  introduced  successfully 
is  suggestive. 

The  second  question  on  subjects  of  religious  knowledge  sent  out 
was,  "Could  your  Association  introduce  studies  regarding  social  and 
moral  questions  at  the  present  time;  how  society  deals  with  poverty, 
crime,  and  drunkenness,  the  social  problems  of  the  modern  city,  etc.  ?  " 


GENERAL  AGENCIES  FOR  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION      365 

This  subject  is  looked  at  more  hopefully.  Only  one  says  positively  no, 
and  three  are  doubtful;  three  say,  "To  a  limited  extent,"  and  one  says, 
"Yes,  by  lectures  from  safe  men;"  nine  are  already  doing  this;  the  West 
Side  Branch  in  New  York  states,  "A  successful  class  has  been  conducted 
this  season  in  these  subjects,  average  attendance  of  fifty  men;"  another 
says,  "It  has  been  done  successfully  by  lectures  and  practical  talks;" 
another,  "We  have  a  problem  club  to  study  these  questions;"  another, 
"We  have  done  this  in  a  very  simple  way  in  one  of  our  Bible  classes;" 
another,  "We  are  doing  it  through  a  social  service  club."  It  is  apparent 
that  the  study  of  human  relationships  and  human  needs  today,  in  the 
estimate  of  a  large  number  of  secretaries  and  other  officers,  can  be 
successfully  undertaken  in  the  Association,  and  some  are  already  doing 
it  with  encouraging  results. 

The  third  question  asked  was:  "Could  your  Association  undertake 
classes  in  the  study  of  questions  of  personal  conduct  and  ethics,  the  life- 
problems  of  young  men,  good  citizenship,  religious  obligations,  and  the 
like?"  Not  a  single  negative  answer  was  received  to  this  question, 
though  two  or  three  gave  no  answers  at  all;  nine  stated  that  they  are 
already  doing  something  in  this  line;  the  West  Side  Branch,  New  York, 
reports  a  large  class  which  has  for  two  or  three  years  been  carrying  out 
this  program,  average  attendance  220;  one  Association  says,  "We  are 
doing  this  in  a  partial  manner;"  another  large  Association  states,  "Have 
had  a  large  and  very  successful  class  in  this  course;"  another  says,  "We 
aim  to  do  this  in  our  intermediate  club;"  another  has  a  problem  club 
with  this  aim;  another  reports  a  course  in  the  relationships  of  young 
men  made  up  of  the  older  high-school  boys;  one  reports,  "We  have  a 
problem  club  that  the  men  are  very  much  interested  in." 

It  would  seem  from  the  answers  to  these  three  questions  that  to  a 
considerable  extent  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  may  under- 
take the  imparting  of  religious  knowledge  to  young  men.  Difiiculties 
in  inaugurating  such  instruction  may  be  met  by  introducing  the  club 
idea  for  creating  interest  and  sociability ;  the  securing  of  suitable  teachers 
by  paying  them ;  the  education  and  cultivation  of  strong  men  who  might 
be  interested  in  this  work;  a  systematic  agitation  by  some  department  of 
supervision ;  by  having  clear-cut  and  attractive  courses  prepared.  There 
is  a  growing  disposition  to  introduce  these  subjects  in  the  Association, 
and  to  make  experiments  regarding  them.  There  is  not  yet  a  sufl&cient 
basis  of  experience  to  draw  any  large  conclusions.  Agitation  and 
experiment  seem  to  be  the  things  now  needed,  and  the  time  is  ripe  for 
leaders  to  arise  in  the  Association  ranks  who  will  discover  how  to 
extend  this  work  of  religious  instruction  among  young  men. 


366  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

Lastly,  are  there  additional  agencies  of  religious  activity  which  the 
Association  should  adopt  ?  The  large  emphasis  in  the  replies  upon  Chris- 
tian activity  as  a  means  of  religious  education  is  certainly  significant. 
The  Association  is  lamentably  weak,  in  this  respect,  in  spite  of  its  com- 
mittee system.  Ought  not  an  Association  to  have  a  standing  committee 
on  the  reUgious  activity  of  its  members  who  will  study  the  needs  of  their 
own  community  and  the  membership  of  the  Association,  report  on  what 
they  are  doing,  and  recommend  lines  of  Christian  activity  in  the  com- 
munity at  large  which  need  to  be  undertaken,  not  by  the  Association  as 
such,  but  by  the  members  as  individuals?  We  are  eager  to  find  how 
many  men  visit  the  Association  rooms,  how  many  men  renew  their 
membership,  how  many  men  use  the  gymnasium  and  educational  classes; 
we  note  the  attendance  upon  our  own  religious  meetings  and  the  mem- 
bership upon  our  committees,  and  the  amount  of  money  given  for  home 
or  foreign  work.  Would  it  not  be  important  also  to  study  the  activities 
of  our  members,  and  lead  them  out  into  Christian  service  ?  The  first 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association  was  organized  to  gather  together  a 
band  of  young  men  who  should  be  active  among  young  men  in  the  sphere 
of  their  daily  calling.  The  members  came  together,  not  only  for  spiritual 
improvement,  but  to  report  what  they  had  been  doing  in  Christian  work 
outside.  It  seems  plain  that  the  time  has  come  when  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  should  agitate  and  experiment  concerning  courses 
in  religious  knowledge,  and  that  it  might  profitably  consider  means  for 
increasing  the  religious  activity  of  its  membership. 


XL     YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  SOCIETIES 


THE   RELATION   OF  THE  YOUNG   PEOPLE'S   SOCIETIES 
TO  OTHER  DEPARTMENTS  OF  THE  CHURCH 

AMOS  R.  WELLS, 

MANAGING  EDITOR  OF  "CHRISTIAN  ENDEAVOR  WORLD,"  BOSTON,  MASSACHUSETTS 

It  is  a  pleasure  to  discuss  a  topic  implying  that  there  should  be  a 
definite  relation  between  young  people's  societies  and  other  departments 
of  church  work.  The  churches  are  slow  to  perceive  that  truth.  Students 
of  the  early  days  of  the  Sunday  school  will  recall  how  persistently  that 
new  agency  was  held  at  arm's  length  by  pastors  and  church  officials; 
how  the  schools  for  decades  were  obhged  to  meet  apart  from  the  church 
buildings  and  under  suspicion ;  and  how  the  books  on  the  Sunday  school, 
even  later  than  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century,  were  largely 
devoted  to  a  plea  for  tolerance,  a  beseeching  of  pastors  to  attend  the 
Sunday  schools,  an  assurance  that  they  would  be  welcome  there,  and 
that  personal  contact  with  the  institution  would  remove  prejudices  and 
convert  enemies  into  friends.  This  stage,  which  the  Sunday  school  was 
a  full  half-century  in  passing  through,  the  young  people's  societies  have 
happily  passed  in  their  first  quarter-century ;  and  it  is  coming  everywhere 
to  be  recognized,  however  grudgingly  and  imperfectly  as  yet,  that  the 
young  people's  society  is  a  legitimate  child  of  the  church,  heartily  to  be 
admitted  into  the  church  family,  and  never  to  be  thrust  into  the  street 
to  rely  upon  its  own  devices  and  support  its  own  existence. 

But  the  introduction  of  every  permanent  new  factor  in  church  life 
causes  complexities;  and  when  the  new  factor  is  so  vigorous  and  aggres- 
sive as  the  young  people's  societies,  it  is  not  strange  that  time  is  required 
both  to  understand  the  precise  function  of  the  novel  agency,  and  to 
determine  its  relation  to  the  agencies  previously  existing.  My  remarks 
on  these  two  points  have  as  their  basis  a  very  intimate  official  acquaint- 
ance through  fourteen  years  with  Christian  Endeavor  societies — a 
body  of  young  people  now  numbering  64,380  organizations,  found  in  all 
denominations  and  in  all  lands. 

I.  Though  it  is  not  first  logically,  yet  for  the  convenient  unfolding 
of  my  thought  I  wish  to  speak  first  of  the  relation  that  should  exist 
between  the  young  people's  society  and  the  Sunday  school.  These  are 
sister-organizations,  closely  akin  in  their  histories  and  largely  sympa- 

36; 


368  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

thetic  in  their  methods.  How  shall  they  be  brought  into  harmonious 
and  mutually  helpful  relations  ? 

In  the  first  place,  negatively,  the  young  people's  society  should  not 
undertake  to  do  the  distinctive  v^ork  of  the  Sunday  school,  which  is 
instruction  in  the  Bible,  nor  should  the  Sunday  school  attempt  to  carry 
on  the  distinctive  work  of  the  young  people's  society,  which  is  training 
for  the  mature  work  of  the  church.  Many  are  constantly  urging  the 
young  people's  societies  to  supply  this  or  that  deficiency,  real  or  imagined, 
in  the  Sunday  school,  but  the  temptation  to  enter  this  field  has  been,  in 
the  main,  resisted.  The  only  approach  to  aggression  on  Sunday-school 
domains  has  been  the  somewhat  wide  use  by  the  older  societies  of  Tay- 
lor's text-book  on  the  life  of  Christ,  a  work  originating  in  the  Epworth 
Leagues,  but  largely  used  by  Endeavorers  also,  and  the  use  by  Junior 
societies  of  a  life  of  Christ  for  young  people,  pubUshed  by  the  Christian 
Endeavor  society  and  written  by  Dr.  Stewart,  the  chairman  of  our 
Sunday-school  department.  In  addition,  the  present  series  of  Junior 
Christian  Endeavor  topics  will  spend  four  years  in  a  regular  progress 
through  the  Bible.  The  decided  tendency  is  to  make  the  prayer- 
meeting  topics,  both  of  Junior  and  older  societies,  more  systematic  in  their 
selection  of  Scripture  passages  and  more  orderly  in  their  survey  of 
Scripture  doctrines;  but  always  this  distinction  holds,  that  the  Sunday- 
school  work  with  the  Bible  is  educational,  the  Bible  work  of  the  young 
people's  society  is  devotional  and  practical;  in  the  Sunday  school  the 
scholars  take  in,  in  the  society  the  members  give  out;  the  Sunday  school 
is  chieily  for  understanding  and  beheving,  the  society  is  for  applying. 
If  this  reasonable  and  profitable  distinction  is  held,  the  two  agencies  will 
be  kept  from  clashing  even  where  they  approximate  most  closely,  and  the 
society  will  supplement  the  school  at  a  point  where  the  very  exigencies  of 
time,  if  nothing  else,  will  always  render  it  deficient. 

In  the  second  place,  positively,  the  young  people's  society  will  find 
in  the  Sunday  school  the  nearest,  the  most  natural,  and  therefore  the 
most  fruitful  field  for  the  practice  of  those  activities  to  which  its  members 
are  serving  apprenticeship.  Most  of  our  societies  recognize  this  rela- 
tionship by  the  regular  appointment  of  Sunday-school  committees. 
These  committees,  usually  consisting  of  the  older  members,  are  called 
on  by  the  superintendent  for  a  variety  of  services.  They  often  act  as 
substitute  teachers,  and,  indeed,  this  is  their  most  frequently  performed 
duty.  They  sometimes  constitute  a  normal  class  in  the  school,  studying 
each  Sunday  the  next  Sunday's  lesson,  with  a  special  view  to  teaching 
it  if  called  upon.  In  addition,  these  committees  often  canvass  the  town 
or  neighborhood  for  new  Sunday-school  scholars.     They  often  act  as 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  SOCIETIES  AND  THE  CHURCH        369 

the  teacher's  aids  in  looking  up  absentees.  They  organize  Sunday- 
school  choirs,  and  help  the  superintendent  prepare  Sunday-school  con- 
certs. In  short,  in  a  multitude  of  schools,  the  superintendent  draws 
upon  the  Endeavorers,  through  this  committee  as  intermediary,  for  a 
variety  of  helpful  services,  which  train  the  young  people  and  provide 
Sunday-school  workers  for  the  future,  at  the  same  time  that  they  contrib- 
ute to  the  schools'  immediate  prosperity. 

The  young  people's  prayer  meetings  often  add  to  the  Sunday-school 
interest  in  a  way  not  always  recognized,  because  few  outside  the  societies 
perceive  the  frequent  dependence  of  the  young  people's  prayer-meeting 
topic  upon  the  Sunday-school  topic  that  has  preceded  it.  Certainly 
half  the  time  the  latter  is  derived  from  the  former,  taking  up  some  impor- 
tant practical  theme  which  the  teachers  in  the  school  have  had  all  too 
little  time  to  develop,  illustrating  it  with  other  Scriptures,  and  setting 
the  young  people  to  discussing  it  in  the  light  of  the  historical  studies  in 
the  Sunday  school.  I  have  found  that,  though  this  connection  of  topics 
is  never  advertised,  the  Endeavorers  themselves  always  recognize  it  and 
utilize  it  admirably. 

In  the  third  place,  if  the  young  people's  society  should  thus  aid  the 
Sunday  school,  certainly  the  latter  has  some  duties  toward  the  former. 
It  is  plainly  to  the  interest  of  the  school  that  all  its  scholars  should  be 
members  of  the  society,  and  both  teachers  and  officers  should  work  to 
this  end.  Especially,  however,  the  Sunday  school  can  aid  the  society 
by  using  it.  Nothing  is  more  certainly  fatal  to  the  progress  of  a  learner 
than  not  to  be  allowed  or  compelled  to  practice  what  he  is  learning;  and 
the  school  is  one  of  the  practicing  grounds  of  the  society.  If  teachers 
and  superintendents  would  everywhere  utiHze  to  the  full  the  members 
of  their  young  people's  societies,  enduring  at  the  start  their  necessary 
crudities  for  the  sake  of  the  final  gain,  they  would  do  the  societies  the 
best  of  services,  and  would  themselves  in  the  end  reap  great  profit  for 
their  schools. 

2.  Let  us  next  consider  the  relation  between  the  young  people's 
society  and  the  pastor.  This  is  logically  a  relation  which  should  stand 
first  as  most  important,  since  the  pastor  is  the  director  of  the  church  in 
all  its  branches,  including  the  young  people's  society.  The  pledge  may 
be  changed  in  any  way  by  local  societies  or  their  pastors,  or  a  mere 
''declaration"  or  statement  of  purpose  may  be  substituted;  neverthe- 
less, the  pledge  has  up  to  the  present  time  been  used  with  practical  unifor- 
mity by  Christian  Endeavor  societies,  and  largely  also  by  Epworth 
Leagues  and  other  organizations;  and  it  has  been  the  source  of  the 
enormous  and  unprecedented  success  of  this  young  people's  movement. 


370  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

But  also,  indirectly,  it  has  been  an  element  of  weakness.  It  has  caused 
Endeavor  societies  to  succeed  where  preceding  societies  had  failed, 
because  it  introduces  a  self-continuing  element.  When  the  pledge  is 
taken,  the  young  people  themselves  are  enhsted  in  the  maintenance  and 
perpetuity  of  the  society.  It  is  their  organization.  Their  honor  is  at 
stake  in  its  success  or  failure.  They  have  felt  this  everywhere,  and  this 
feeling  has  kept  the  society  alive  and  often  vigorous  in  the  very  face  of 
opposition,  in  the  even  more  bhghting  presence  of  cynical  neglect,  in 
churches  without  pastors,  in  communities  that  otherwise  were  rehgiously 
dead.  Any  consideration  of  young  people's  societies  is  trivial  indeed  if 
it  does  not  understand  the  tremendous  power  of  a  sense  of  ownership 
aroused  in  the  young;  the  feeHng  of  origination,  creation,  independence, 
authority;  that  the  society  is  not  something  impressed  upon  them  from 
without,  but  is  the  outgrowth  of  their  own  unfettered  volition,  the  choice 
of  their  own  will,  claiming  their  rightful  allegiance  because  it  is  their  own 
and  not  another's.  And  any  scheme  for  young  people's  reHgious  work, 
however  admirable  theoretically,  will  fall  to  pieces  practically  if  it 
ignores  this  feeling  of  the  young — a  feeUng  which,  be  it  said,  to  what- 
ever disagreeable  ebullitions  it  may  give  rise,  is  nevertheless  our  chief 
augury  for  a  manly,  forceful,  aggressive,  originating  church  in  the  future. 
It  will  be  readily  seen,  however,  that  this  very  pledge  which  has 
insured  the  perpetuity  of  the  societies  without  the  aid  and  oversight  of 
the  pastor  when  he  did  not  give  aid  and  oversight,  has  led  many  a  pastor 
to  feel  that  his  superintendency  and  direction  were  not  desired  and 
perhaps  not  needed.  Nothing  could  be  more  unfortunate  than  this 
feeUng.  The  very  independency  of  the  young  people's  movement, 
which  is  training  the  young  to  so  much  religious  aggressiveness  and  is 
developing  in  them  so  great  potential  abiUty,  constitutes  an  imperative 
plea  for  the  pastor's  most  faithful  oversight  and  most  tactful  guidance. 
Without  the  pastor  at  the  throttle,  this  buoyant  steam  will  puff  out  use- 
lessly through  the  escape  valve,  or  will  accumulate  till  there  is  an  explo- 
sion. The  neglect  of  their  young  people's  societies  by  many  pastors 
would  be  considered  absurdly  reckless  if  shown  toward  the  mature 
activities  of  the  church.  What  pastor  would  expect  his  church  prayer- 
meeting  to  flourish  long  without  his  constant  presence  and  active  par- 
ticipation ?  What  pastor  would  expect  his  church  committees  to  hold 
themselves  wisely  to  their  duties  without  a  stimulating  word  from  him 
now  and  then  ?  What  pastor,  after  receiving  a  member  into  the  church, 
leaves  him  alone  with  the  new  obligations  he  has  assumed,  to  become 
careless  to  them  or  to  remain  faithful,  as  he  will  ?  But  these  are  the 
older  church-members,  men  and  women  of  formed  characters,  balanced 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  SOCIETIES  AND  THE  CHURCH        371 

minds,  determined  wills.  More  safely  a  thousand  times  may  they  be  left 
to  their  own  devices  than  the  young  who  are  just  forming  their  charac- 
ters, whose  wills  need  the  bracing  of  mature  firmness,  whose  awkward- 
ness needs  the  polish  of  mature  judgment,  and  whose  steps  need  the 
guidance  of  mature  experience. 

Pastors  have  grown  accustomed  to  this  wonder  of  young  people's 
religious  societies.  What  pastor,  twenty-five  years  ago,  would  not  have 
considered  it  the  most  precious  opportunity  of  his  ministry  if  forty, 
eighty,  or  a  hundred  of  his  young  people  should,  of  their  own  accord, 
meet  weekly  in  his  church  to  sing  gospel  songs,  to  offer  prayers  however 
brief  and  stammering,  and  to  speak  of  religion  however  crudely  and 
inadequately  ?  But  what  then  was  a  marvel  now  has  become  a  common- 
place, and  too  often  a  neglected  and  forgotten  commonplace.  Some 
pastors  are  Uke  the  Athenians  in  their  devotion  to  novelties,  and  are 
quite  ready  to  abandon  the  old  and  tested  tool  in  favor  of  any  glittering 
contrivance  fresh  from  the  lathe.  They  remind  me  of  the  famihar  type 
of  scientist  that  pursues  ever  the  latest  discovery,  be  it  radium  or  helium 
or  wireless  telegraphy,  leaving  the  microscope  and  the  spectroscope  to 
gather  dust. 

With  the  single  exception  of  his  conduct  of  pubhc  worship,  I  can 
think  of  no  part  of  a  pastor's  work  that  should  consume  so  large  a  share 
of  his  time  and  his  gladly  assiduous  attention  as  the  young  people's 
society.  The  Sunday  school  has  its  large  corps  of  mature  minds  care- 
fully guiding  it,  but  the  young  people's  society,  lacking  the  pastor,  is 
liable  always  to  the  control  of  immaturity.  It  should  be  the  pastor's 
rule  to  be  present  at  the  young  people's  prayer-meetings,  a  part  of  the 
hour  if  not  throughout.  It  is  coming  to  be  the  universal  custom  in 
Christian  Endeavor  societies  to  reserve  the  last  five  minutes  of  each 
meeting  for  the  pastor's  summary  and  application,  and  many  a  pastor 
counts  those  five  minutes  the  most  valuable  of  the  week.  The  executive 
committee  of  the  society — the  officers  and  the  committee  chairmen — 
should  be  the  pastor's  cabinet  for  young  people's  work.  He  should 
make  it  a  rule  to  be  present  at  their  deUberations;  they  should  often 
meet  at  his  house ;  they  should  find  in  him  their  unfailing  thesaurus  of 
wise  methods,  helpful  suggestions,  and  encouraging  good  cheer.  He 
should  know  the  work  of  all  the  committees,  and  should  drop  in  upon 
their  meetings  now  and  then.  Especially,  and  most  difficult  of  all,  he 
should  find  work  for  them  to  do ;  in  no  way  can  he  better  help  them,  and 
probably  no  part  of  all  his  work  will  be  so  difficult  or  so  fruitful.  He 
will  attend  their  socials,  and  give  them  dignity  and  poise.  He  will 
interest  himself  in  individuals,  encouraging  and  directing  their  progress 


372  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

from  easy  to  more  difi5cult  activities.  He  will  lead  the  prayer-meeting 
leaders,  taking  them  for  a  month  in  advance,  as  some  pastors  do,  and 
instructing  them  in  the  best  ways  of  leading  a  meeting.  He  will  not 
fall  into  the  common  error  of  considering  the  society  merely  a  prayer- 
meeting,  though  that  were  a  worthy  and  adequate  end;  but  he  will  see  in 
the  society  a  training  school  for  all  forms  of  church  activity,  the  only 
training  school  the  church  possesses,  and,  if  it  is  wisely  and  fully  used, 
the  only  training  school  the  church  needs.  He  will  recognize  the  fact 
that  no  training  school  can  dispense  with  a  trainer,  and  that  these  young 
and  ardent  lives  are  thus  fortunately  given  to  him  to  train. 

Where  the  pastor  has  not  assumed  this  responsible  relation  toward 
his  society,  but  has  allowed  it  to  drift  by  itself,  the  assumption  of  the 
relationship  will  require  courage  on  his  part,  and  much  wisdom.  No 
method  is  so  good  as  absolute,  straightforward  frankness.  If  the  pastor 
thinks  it  the  most  helpful  course  for  him  to  occupy  the  last  five  minutes 
of  each  prayer-meeting,  to  sum  up  the  subject,  to  encourage  and  exhort, 
why  should  he  not  ask  for  the  opportunity  ?  If  he  wishes  to  lead  the 
meetings  when  certain  topics  are  to  be  discussed,  or  even  to  introduce  a 
topic  of  his  own,  why  should  he  not  tell  the  prayer-meeting  committee 
his  desire  ?  If  the  society  are  becoming  unfaithful  to  the  pledge,  why 
should  he  not  frankly  lay  before  them  their  shortcomings,  and  appeal 
to  their  honor,  openly  calHng  a  lie  a  lie  ?  If  he  thinks  another  form  of 
pledge  more  hkely  to  produce  good  results,  why  should  he  not  go  to  the 
executive  committee  with  his  proposition,  and  obtain  the  society's 
assent  to  a  trial  of  the  change?  Why,  in  short,  should  not  a  pastor, 
who  is  set  over  a  church  to  direct  all  its  interests,  feel  himself  sadly 
recreant  to  his  duty  if  he  allows  so  important,  so  vital  an  interest  as  his 
young  people's  society  to  go  without  needed  direction  ? 

Observe,  I  say  needed  direction.  Anything  beyond  that  will  defeat 
the  very  purpose  of  the  training  school,  which  is  to  raise  up  leaders  in 
the  church  work,  men  and  women  that  can  direct  others  in  their  turn. 
Perhaps  ten  Christian  Endeavor  societies  in  the  Congregational  churches 
of  New  England  have  during  the  past  five  years  been  changed  to  soci- 
eties of  other  types.  In  every  case  the  change  has  been  such  as  to  throw 
upon  the  pastor  the  main  burden  of  the  conduct  of  the  society.  Its 
meetings  have  become  practically  lectures  by  him,  upon  church  history 
or  doctrines,  or  religious  literature  and  art.  There  has  been  almost  a 
complete  abandonment  of  the  attempt  to  train  the  young  in  self-origi- 
nating rehgious  activity,  a  training  which  requires  that  a  large  measure 
of  independent  action  be  allowed  them.  The  romance  has  passed  from 
the  work  —  that  delightful  feeling  which  fills  with  fascination  a  boys* 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  SOCIETIES  AND  THE  CHURCH        373 

club  in  the  hay-mow,  but  makes  an  intolerable  burden  a  boys'  club 
formed  by  a  teacher  as  part  of  a  school  drill.  The  class-room  atmos- 
phere has  come  in,  and  the  atmosphere  of  proud,  unforced  achievement 
has  gone  out.  The  attendance  has  fallen  away,  the  interest  has  died, 
and  a  removal  of  the  pastor,  or  his  failure  to  find  time  for  the  work, 
means  the  disappearance  of  the  young  people's  society  altogether. 

If  such  an  experience  is  to  be  avoided,  the  pastor  must  be  in  his 
young  people's  society  the  power  behind  the  throne,  and  not  very  often 
upon  it.  He  must  be  satisfied  with  the  reality  of  authority  and  guid- 
ance rather  than  the  show.  He  must  do  nothing  himself  that,  even  at 
far  greater  cost  of  time  and  pains,  he  can  get  the  young  people  to  do 
for  themselves.  The  leaders  he  is  training  must  be  allowed  and  encour- 
aged to  lead  as  much  as  possible. 

3.  I  wish  to  say  only  a  word  in  conclusion  about  a  matter  far  too 
complex  to  be  treated  properly  in  this  brief  and  hasty  paper — the  rela- 
tion of  the  young  people's  society  to  the  general  work  of  the  church,  its 
Sunday  services,  its  prayer-meetings,  its  business  meetings,  its  ofiicers, 
its  committees,  its  music,  its  finances,  its  missionary  and  charitable 
societies,  its  social  activities,  its  denominational  and  interdenomina- 
tional outreaches. 

Three  years  ago  I  sent  to  a  large  number  of  pastors  of  Christian 
Endeavor  societies  a  set  of  seventeen  important  questions.  I  received 
repUes  from  1,810  pastors,  ranging  over  forty-six  states  and  territories 
and  forty-two  denominations.  The  information  thus  gained,  though 
in  a  measure  inconclusive,  as  all  questionnaire  methods  are  inconclusive 
owing  to  hmitations  of  returns,  yet  is  very  suggestive.  One  of  the 
questions  on  which  I  laid  most  weight  in  my  own  mind  was  this:  "What 
plan  has  your  church  for  overseeing,  encouraging,  and  directing  its 
Christian  Endeavor  society?"  Of  the  1,810  pastors,  1,663  answered 
this  question.  Of  these,  243  reported  some  plan,  though  in  the 
large  majority  of  cases  this  "plan"  was  nothing  more  than  the  attend- 
ance of  the  pastor  on  the  young  people's  prayer-meetings.  But  1,420 
frankly  admitted  that  their  churches  had  no  plan  whatever  for  oversee- 
ing and  directing  the  young  people's  society. 

I  also  asked  this  question,  which  is  quite  as  important:  "What 
methods  do  you  use  for  incorporating  into  the  church  prayer-meeting, 
committee  work,  and  other  church  activities,  the  young  people  trained 
by  the  Christian  Endeavor  society?"  This  question  was  answered  by 
1,475,  o^  whom  254  reported  some  method,  generally  very  incomplete 
and  inadequate,  while  1,221  declared  that  their  church  was  using  no 
method  whatever  to  accompHsh  this  end. 


374  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

This  proportion,  or  a  proportion  still  more  unfavorable,  obtains, 
I  am  sure,  throughout  our  churches.  We  have  a  training  school,  we 
are  becoming  increasingly  anxious  that  the  young  folks  shall  graduate 
from  it,  but  we  are  not,  except  by  the  clumsy  process  of  haphazard, 
incorporating  the  trained  workers  in  the  mature  activities  of  the  church. 

"Why  do  they  not  incorporate  themselves?" 

In  effect,  this  impatient  and  illogical  question  is  often  asked.  Some 
of  the  more  persistent  and  confident  of  the  young  people  do  force  them- 
selves into  the  circle  of  church  work,  but  is  it  reasonable  to  expect  this 
of  them?  Everywhere,  and  in  all  spheres,  is  it  not  the  duty  of  the 
experienced  to  make  room  for  and  utilize  the  less  experienced  ?  Does 
the  soil  force  itself  upward  into  the  grain,  or  the  grain  into  the  ox,  or 
the  ox  into  the  man  ?  Is  not  progression  quite  uniformly  the  result  of 
a  drawing  from  above  rather  than  a  bold  and  importunate  incursion 
from  below  ?    It  is  not  otherwise  in  young  people's  reUgious  work. 

In  many  Christian  Endeavor  societies  every  member  is  serving  all  the 
time  on  some  committee;  in  all  societies  frequent  committee  service  is 
the  rule  of  all  members.  The  church,  on  the  other  hand,  has  few  com- 
mittees, and  fewer  changes  in  committee  membership.  In  Christian 
Endeavor  societies  the  ideal  and  the  common  practice  is  that  each  mem- 
ber shall  contribute  something  to  the  helpfulness  of  each  prayer-meeting. 
This  necessitates  short  prayers  and  brief  testimonies,  with  brisk  leader- 
ship. In  the  church  prayer-meeting,  very  often,  those  that  take  part 
are  lamentably  few  and  correspondingly  and  conscientiously  elaborate. 
No  one  who  has  not  himself  made  the  attempt  can  realize  how  difficult  it 
is  for  a  young  person  to  pass  from  the  one  regime  to  the  other.  We 
are  expecting  from  the  average  young  person  a  simple  impossibility 
when  we  expect  him  to  make  the  transition  unencouraged  and  unaided. 

I  am  not  suggesting  a  method;  I  am  insisting  that  it  is  the  business 
of  the  church  to  find  a  method  and  apply  it,  and  that,  until  this  method 
is  found  and  employed,  the  church  should  cease  complaining  of  meager 
results  from  young  people's  societies  and  imperfect  graduation  from 
them  into  the  ranks  of  older  church  workers.  I  know  of  no  problem 
now  before  the  church  more  practical  and  pressing  than  precisely  this. 
We  are  turning  out  the  product,  but  we  are  not  using  it.  We  are  train- 
ing the  workers,  but  we  are  not  setting  them  to  work.  We  have  devel- 
oped a  splendid  system  of  apprenticeship,  but  we  are  not  making  places 
in  the  shop  for  the  passed  apprentices,  and  incorporating  them  in  the 
shop's  organized  labors. 

How  this  incorporation  shall  be  brought  about  does  not  lie  within 
the  province  of  leaders  in  young  people's  work  to  decide.     Such  a  body 


YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  SOCIETIES  AND  THE  CHURCH        375 

as  the  Religious  Education  Association  could  and  should  do  much 
toward  a  solution.  It  is,  however,  to  experimentation  by  individual 
pastors  and  churches  that  we  must  look  for  fruitful  hints.  What  is  now 
most  necessary  is  to  get  the  pastors  to  see  that  the  process  is  as  yet 
only  a  half-process,  and  that  it  rests  with  them  to  complete  it.  What 
changes  should  be  made  in  the  church  prayer-meeting,  or  whether  any 
change  at  all  should  be  made ;  how  the  church  committee  system  should 
be  enlarged  and  diversified,  or  whether  it  should  be  modified  at  all; 
what  transformation  should  take  place  in  the  atmosphere  of  the  church 
life,  or  whether  any  transformation  is  needed — all  these  are  local  ques- 
tions primarily,  to  be  answered  differently  in  every  church. 

But  whatever  the  solution  or  solutions,  let  this  plea  be  heard,  urging 
a  loving,  faithful,  persistent  guidance  of  this  young  people's  work  by 
the  pastor  and  his  wisest  lieutenants.  Let  every  stage  of  the  process 
have  their  sympathy,  their  prayers,  their  time,  their  thought,  their  per- 
sonality. Let  it  move  from  the  very  start  toward  a  well-understood 
and  prepared  goal,  the  entrance  of  each  young  Christian  into  some 
mature  service  for  which  he  has  been  trained,  which  has  been  inviting 
him  from  the  start,  and  which  is  ready  for  his  eager,  skilful  hands. 


THE  FOUR  CHIEF  ELEMENTS  OF  CHRISTIAN  TRAINING 

REV.  CHARLES  LUTHER  KLOSS, 

PASTOR    CENTRAL    CONGREGATIONAL    CHURCH,    PHILADELPHIA 

There  are  many  who  recognize  the  important  services  rendered  by 
the  Christian  Endeavor  and  kindred  societies  during  the  past  quarter 
of  a  century,  who  think  that  the  usefulness  of  some  of  them  is  past. 
The  justification  of  an  organization  or  department  of  the  Kingdom  of 
God  is  that  it  meets  and  serves  a  legitimate  demand.  I  asked  a  society 
of  Christian  Endeavor  in  this  city  recently  if  they  thought  their  work 
was  as  promising  and  efficient  as  five  years  ago.  The  question  was 
met  with  a  unanimously  negative  opinion.  The  same  expression  was 
given  concerning  the  condition  of  the  local  unions.  In  twenty  churches 
of  my  acquaintance  in  a  large  western  city  which  had  strong,  vigorous 
Christian  Endeavor  societies  six  years  ago,  only  two  are  in  existence 
today,  and  these  two  are  near  dissolution.  This  is  not  necessarily  an 
indictment  of  the  general  principles  of  the  young  people's  movement; 
it  may  have  been  occasioned  by  lack  of  fidelity  to  its  principles  on  the 
part  of  those  who  have  professed  them.  Surely  no  one  in  suggesting 
weakness  and  failures  in  local  societies  could  fail  at  the  same  time  to 
recognize  the  unique  service  the  movement  has  rendered  the  church. 
It  has  accentuated  the  importance  of  young  people  in  church  life,  sug- 
gested new  and  important  phases  of  church  work,  and  fitted  many  for 
leadership.  All  this  is  cheerfully  recognized,  and  much  more;  but  the 
question  remains  as  to  whether  the  movement  is  fulfilling  the  prophecy 
of  earlier  days;  whether  this  widespread  defection  of  many  societies 
is  not  indicative  of  some  vital  lack. 

Art  retains  its  hold  only  by  changing  its  form.  The  psalmist  rec- 
ognized this  when  he  said,  "Sing  unto  the  Lord  a  new  song."  The 
Spirit  of  God  manifests  itself  in  ceaseless  changes  of  expression.  He 
is  an  expert  indeed  who  can  keep  pace  with  the  evolution  of  the  Kingdom 
of  God.  The  secret  of  the  success  of  one  of  the  largest  and  most  aggres- 
sive churches  in  this  country  hes  in  the  fact  that  a  new  organization  is 
started  whenever  one  is  needed  by  a  new  extension  of  the  work,  and  abol- 
ished as  soon  as  it  becomes  superfluous  or  inefficient.  If  useful,  it 
remains;  if  useless,  it  is  set  aside.  Nothing  is  allowed  to  remain  for 
what  it  once  did.  Such  a  poHcy  is  altogether  wholesome  and  sane, 
and  in  line  with  spiritual  development.     The  reasons  given  for  the 

376 


FOUR  ELEMENTS  OF  CHRISTIAN  TRAINING  377 

decadence  of  local  societies  were  nearly  all  of  the  same  tenor:  the  society 
had  got  into  ruts;  it  apparently  had  just  enough  vitality  to  keep  the 
wheels  going  around;  the  end  in  view  was  the  success  of  a  meeting 
rather  than  the  development  of  the  young  people  themselves;  there  was 
lack  of  leadership,  direction,  and  plan;  there  was  underemphasis  of 
the  educational  and  practical  elements.  A  young  people's  society  with 
which  I  am  well  acquainted  has  carefully  planned  courses  of  study  in 
Biblical  literature,  biography,  church  history,  and  missions.  The 
course  is  backed  up  by  a  finely  selected  library.  It  is  safe  to  say  that 
young  men  who  come  mto  church  hfe  through  such  training  will,  with 
the  women,  be  equally  loyal  supporters  of  her  missionary  movements. 

The  apostle  James  puts  the  emphasis  of  religion  on  doing,  not  hear- 
ing alone.  The  one  definition  of  religion  we  have  in  Scripture,  and 
that  given  by  him,  is  suggestive  of  the  divine  order — the  best  way  to 
keep  oneself  unspotted  from  the  world  is  to  be  occupied  in  ministry  to 
others.  A  good  deacon  once  complained  to  Thomas  Dixon  that  his 
sermons  placed  too  much  emphasis  on  doing,  and  reminded  him  of 
Jesus'  command  to  Peter,  "Feed  my  sheep."  Mr.  Dixon  rephed: 
"That  is  what  is  the  matter  with  you;  I  have  fed  you  until  you  are  so 
fat  you  cannot  walk."  A  woman  once  came  to  me  and  asked  if  it  were 
not  possible  to  give  her  husband  something  to  do  in  the  church:  "He 
evinces  but  little  interest;  just  give  him  something  to  do,  and  I  think  he 
will  attend."  In  support  of  her  behef  she  recounted  how  her  husband, 
lacking  interest  in  a  lodge  to  which  he  belonged,  was  made  a  very 
regular  attendant.  "He  was  elected,"  she  said,  "the  High  and  Mighty 
Potentate  of  the  Eastern  Door.  Now  he  attends  the  lodge  regularly 
every  Thursday  night."  Think  of  it — a  sensible  man  walking  up  and 
down  in  a  closet-hke  room,  with  a  drawn  sword,  peeping  out  of  a  small 
hole  in  the  door,  and  challenging  all  who  would  enter.  All  this  because 
he  was  given  something  to  do.  There  is  much  philosophy  in  this.  Young 
people  need  direction  in  the  Hne  of  that  in  which  they  are  interested, 
and  in  which  they  peculiarly  are  best  capable  of  doing.  There  should 
be  enough  specific  work  to  go  around. 

•  The  good  citizenship  movement  in  Christian  Endeavor  Societies  is 
a  most  inviting  field  for  the  exploitation  of  young  people's  activities. 
If  ever  our  cities  are  to  be  redeemed,  they  must  be  through  the  coming 
youth,  trained  intelligently  for  service  to  the  state.  Each  young  people's 
society  should  have  a  map  of  the  city  and  ward;  should  know  all  that 
a  citizen  should  know  about  the  condition  of  its  streets,  sanitation,  and 
physical  health;  how  saloons  are  licensed;  should  know  by  actual 
acquaintance  the  condition  of  its  charitable  institutions^  should  have  a 


378  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

digest  of  unenforced  statutes;  should  know  all  the  boarding-houses  in 
the  neighborhood,  and  should  seek  by  personal  influence  to  bring  every 
unchurched  young  man  and  woman  to  know  the  Master.  There  is 
work  in  abundance  to  engage  the  superb  activities  of  all  the  young 
people  who  can  be  gathered  into  such  a  society.  By  such  a  program 
the  devotional  will  bulk  very  much  larger  in  young  people's  hves. 
Work  doesn't  always  precede  inspiration,  but  it  frequently  generates 
something  very  near  akin  to  it. 

It  is  true  now,  as  in  Christ's  time,  that  the  fields  are  white  to  the 
harvest;  the  laborers  only  are  lacking.  By  a  realization  of  her  superb 
commission,  and  the  utilization  of  the  splendid  powers  dormant  in  her 
young  people,  the  church  could  capture  the  world's  forces  and  bend 
them  to  the  Master's  service  in  a  generation,  if  she  would.  There  is  no 
time  to  lament  mistakes.  The  hour  is  pregnant  with  strategic  oppor- 
tunities. The  church  by  patient  training  can  make  master-workmen 
and  artists  out  of  today's  apprentices.  The  prime  requisite  is  not  devo- 
tion to  an  organization,  but  to  a  Person;  and  the  carrying  out  of  His 
will  locally,  with  the  best  direction  and  conservation  of  energy. 


THE  CONDITIONS  AND  NEEDS  OF  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S 

SOCIETIES 

REV.  WILLIAM  B.  FORBUSH,  Ph.D., 

PASTOR   WINTHROP   CONGREGATIONAL   CHURCH,    BOSTON,   MASSACHUSETTS 

Since  the  limits  both  of  time  and  of  opportunity  render  a  general 
discussion  of  vague  and  doubtful  value,  I  have  thought  it  wise  to  narrow 
the  present  inquiry  to  one  definite  and  typical  section  of  the  field. 
Accordingly  the  statements  and  statistics  of  this  paper  have  relation 
entirely  to  the  societies  of  Christian  Endeavor,  and  very  largely  to  those 
societies  as  found  in  the  Congregational  churches  of  America.  From 
this  body  the  movement  sprang,  wdthin  its  fold  has  it  had  the  most 
thorough  working  out,  and  within  it  today  is  its  largest  proportionate 
membership. 

As  to  the  sources  of  this  paper,  I  have  been  an  earnest  partner  and 
student  in  this  matter  for  a  dozen  years  and  have  collected  a  mass  of 
material.  I  have  also  recently  had  courteous  access  to  the  great  ques- 
tionnaire of  eighteen  hundred  answers  collected  by  the  United  Society, 
and  to  several  smaller  but  important  studies  which  I  shall  refer  to  later; 
and  I  shall  make  particular  use  of  five  hundred  question  sheets  sent  out 
by  me  under  the  authorization  of  the  Religious  Education  Association 
to  the  Congregational  pastors  in  alphabetical  order,  located  in  Massachu- 
setts and  Illinois,  from  whom  I  have  received  nearly  two  hundred  full 
and  thoughtful  replies,  which  stand  for  a  very  representative  Christian 
Endeavor  clientele,  in  East  and  West,  in  city  and  country,  of  about  six 
thousand  members. 

My  first  inquiry  was  as  to  the  degree  to  which  the  Endeavor  move- 
ment is  sustaining  itself  in  the  regions  where  it  has  been  longest  estab- 
lished. 

The  Congregational  Year  Book  is  the  only  one  of  those  of  the  larger 
denominations  which  counts  the  membership  of  its  young  people's 
societies.  The  statistics  in  that  body  are  rather  alarming.  The  number 
of  societies  has  kept  about  the  same,  but  the  number  of  members  has 
greatly  decreased.  From  the  inception  of  the  society,  in  1881,  for  over 
fifteen  years  the  membership  grew  by  bounds,  in  one  year  making  an 
increase  of  nearly  15,000  until,  in  January,  1897,  it  was  over  220,000. 
From  that  date  until  that  of  the  latest  yearbook  it  has  decreased  every 
year,  until,  at  last  report,  it  was  but  170,000;  in  other  words,  the  Con- 

379 


38o  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

gregational  Endeavor  societies  have  lost  one-fourth  of  their  members 
within  six  years.  And  this  is  in  spite  of  the  recent  rapid  growth  of  the 
Junior  movement.  During  this  same  period  the  number  of  members 
and  families  in  these  churches  has  had  a  steady  gain,  and  the  Sunday 
schools,  which  have  fluctuated  in  either  direction,  have  made  a  net  loss 
of  only  three  per  cent.  A  recent  analysis  by  the  statistician  of  the  Con- 
gregational body  shows  that  the  losses  are  almost  entirely  in  those  states 
in  which  the  movement  has  been  the  most  years  in  existence.  This 
loss  is  explainable  partly  as  a  result  of  the  weeding-out  process,  but  it 
also  indicates  that  the  societies  are  not  reproducing  their  numbers 
among  the  younger  element  of  their  communities. 

The  next  inquiry  was  as  to  the  proportion  of  the  sexes  in  the  mem- 
bership. Concerning  this  no  general  figures  are  obtainable.  An  inves- 
tigation a  short  time  ago  in  the  Suffolk  West  Conference  of  Massachusetts 
showed  that  the  proportion  of  males  to  females  in  membership  and 
offices  is  considerably  less  than  in  the  early  days  of  the  movement.  Mr. 
James  F.  Gates  found  that  of  one  thousand  members  in  and  near  Chicago 
thirty-two  and  one-half  per  cent,  were  males,  and  Dr.  F.  G.  Cressey 
received  from  seventy-eight  churches,  representing  probably  twice  as 
many  young  people  in  a  wider  radius,  a  percentage  of  thirty-six  of  males. 
Rev.  H.  A.  Jump,  in  a  rural  conference  in  central  New  York,  found  that 
in  a  group  of  societies  numbering  about  five  hundred  and  fifty  members, 
twenty-five  per  cent,  were  males,  and  counting  those  under  twenty-five 
years  of  age,  only  sixteen  per  cent.  The  proportion  of  males  to  females 
is  now  apparently  smaller  in  these  societies  than  in  the  early  days  of  the 
movement,  or  than  in  the  present  church  membership  of  this  country, 
which  is  said  to  be  thirty-seven  per  cent.,  or  in  the  Sunday  schools 
which  is  forty-four  per  cent.  Both  Mr.  Gates  and  Dr.  Cressey  found 
that  the  small  proportion  of  males  is  not  explained,  as  some  have  sup- 
posed, by  any  neglect  to  push  the  young  men  into  the  activities  of  the 
societies.  While  males  were  only  one-third  of  the  membership,  they 
were  found  to  hold  more  than  half  the  ofiQces  and  chairmanships  and 
to  be  leading  more  than  half  the  meetings.  We  will  try  later  to  look  a 
little  more  deeply  into  the  explanation  of  this. 

A  third  question  regarding  which  it  is  important  to  have  information 
is  as  to  the  age  of  the  members  now  in  the  societies.  Mr.  Jump's  small 
investigation  indicated  the  average  age  as  twenty-five  years.  About 
twelve  per  cent,  of  those  who  answered  my  inquiries  spoke  of  the  reten- 
tion of  so  many  adults  as  a  serious  barrier  to  the  success  of  their  work. 
I  think  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  average  age  is  nearly  ten  years 
greater  than  in  the  early  societies.     The  growth  of  Junior  societies  has 


THE  CONDITIONS  OF  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  SOCIETIES      381 

made  a  new  place  for  the  children  in  many  churches,  but  there  is  becom- 
ing a  serious  question  in  some  places  as  to  the  function  of  an  Endeavor 
society  composed  of  adults  who  are  separate  and  in  some  instances  not 
entirely  harmonious  with  and  loyal  to  the  church  itself.  I  found  this 
complaint  more  common  than  I  had  supposed.  The  great  questionnaire 
sent  from  the  headquarters  of  the  Christian  Endeavor  Society  resulted 
in  the  proof  that  only  fifteen  to  seventeen  per  cent,  of  the  churches  have 
any  plans  for  supervising  the  societies  or  incorporating  their  activities 
into  the  church  life.  If,  as  is  stated  by  some  critics,  the  church  is  not 
receiving  the  new  strength  it  ought  from  the  Endeavor  movement,  may 
this  not  be  explained  in  part,  and  may  not  the  reluctance  of  the  Endeav- 
orers  to  leave  their  own  organization  be  explained,  by  the  neglect  of  the 
pastors  and  older  members  to  welcome  and  find  room  for  the  young 
people  in  the  church  prayer-meeting  and  church  work  ?  My  own  con- 
viction is  a  very  positive  one  that  most  churches  are  not  doing  business 
enough  to  keep  half  their  members  at  work,  and  that  as  it  is  not  natural 
to  expect  older  members  to  surrender  their  places  in  which  they  are  inter- 
ested and  successful  to  younger  people,  the  churches  will  never  get  the 
benefit  of  all  this  youthful  energy  until  they  find  larger  and  more  varied 
channels  for  Christian  activity. 

This  suggests  my  fourth  inquiry,  which  was  regarding  the  work  done 
by  the  societies,  particularly  through  the  committee  system.  The  Chris- 
tian Endeavor  question-sheets  and  my  own  each  brought  responses, 
seventy  per  cent,  of  which  regarded  favorably  the  results  of  this  system. 
The  amount  and  variety  of  Christ-like  service  exhibited  by  the  total  of 
these  societies  is  prodigious  and  most  gratifying.  Pastors  bear  heartfelt 
testimony  in  the  hundreds  of  letters  which  I  have  read  to  the  achievements 
of  the  society.  These  testimonies  relate  chiefly  to  the  value  of  the  young 
people's  prayer-meeting,  the  emphasis  on  Bible  study,  mission  study, 
and  giving,  and  the  development  of  the  young  people  in  devotional  spirit, 
responsibility,  and  willingness  to  serve.  No  doubt  is  expressed  about 
the  importance  of  carrying  the  young  people  into  appropriate  activities, 
but  there  was  considerable  question  as  to  whether  the  machinery  were 
not  often  too  ponderous  for  the  power,  and  much  perplexity  in  many 
local  churches  as  to  how  to  find  enough  activities  in  the  church  really 
worth  while  which  have  not  already  been  pre-empted  by  others  older  and 
more  competent.  The  committee  idea  works  about  as  it  does  every- 
where else.  Much  depends  on  the  leadership  of  the  chairman  and  the 
propulsion  of  the  pastor.  There  is  a  tendency  to  do  no  work  except 
committee  work.  This  discourages  individual  and  special  plans  and 
tasks.     Would  it  not  be-a  corrective  to  this  tendency  to  do  away  as  far  as 


382  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

possible  with  standing  committees?  Someone  says:  "Standing  com- 
mittees do  little  but  stand  still."  Let  us  think  first  of  work  to  do,  and 
then  set  apart  special  committees  to  do  it — groups  of  various  sizes,  some- 
times including  the  whole  society,  and  so  keep  the  committees  fresh  by 
making  fresh  and  all-inclusive  demands  upon  the  entire  membership. 

Another  interesting  inquiry,  concerning  which  there  have  been  many 
wild  guesses,  is  as  to  the  number  of  societies  which  have  materially 
changed  their  methods  from  those  of  the  model  constitution.  I  did  not 
directly  ask  this  question,  but  about  ten  per  cent,  of  those  who  repHed 
stated  that  they  had  modified  the  original  Endeavor  ideas.  I  have 
written  to  such  others  as  I  could  learn  of  who  had  revised  their  constitu- 
tions, with  the  thought  of  finding  out  if  there  has  been  any  constructive 
attainment  from  these  experiments  which  might  show  that  they  had 
reached  a  common  basis  of  successful  purpose  and  result.  I  will  state 
my  conclusions  from  these  answers  a  little  later. 

I  asked  also  a  question  concerning  the  Junior  societies  which  per- 
haps because  it  was  not  fortunately  framed,  did  not  bring  as  definite  and 
informing  answers  as  I  could  wish.  This  movement  certainly  needs  a 
more  careful  consideration.  It  appeals  to  boys  and  girls  in  the  critical 
years  of  spiritual  development,  and  so  presents  a  great  opportunity  to 
Christian  pastors  and  people.  The  societies  are  being  conducted  too 
often  in  imitation  either  of  the  Sunday  school  or  of  the  older  Endeavor 
society,  because  their  distinctive  function  has  not  been  realized.  Those 
who  are  using  them  as  a  means  of  close  comradeship  and  spiritual  nurture 
claim  that  their  place  is  second  to  none  in  importance  in  the  church 
economy.  The  universal  testimony  seems  to  be  that  at  this  age,  when 
children  are  so  susceptible  to  influence  by  each  other  and  by  adults,  the 
success  of  the  work  is  almost  entirely  in  the  one  matter  of  wise  and  com- 
petent leadership. 

Regarding  the  future  of  the  young  people's  societies,  there  are  two 
matters  which  give  me  grave  concern. 

I.  The  Christian  Endeavor  pledge.  Regarding  the  question 
whether  this  pledge  is  kept  or  not,  concerning  which  I  did  not  inquire 
directly,  I  received  statements  from  eighty-four  pastors,  five  of  whom 
asserted  that  it  is,  and  seventy-nine  of  whom  distinctly  stated  that  it  is 
not.  This  is  a  very  serious  consensus.  I  hesitate  to  think  it  is  com- 
pletely representative  of  the  situation.  But  the  underlying  testimony 
in  all  my  means  of  information  is  that,  while  the  pledge  works  well  at 
the  start  and  forms  a  constant  stimulus  to  certain  conscientious  ones,  it 
is  regarded  loosely  or  ignored  by  considerable  numbers  in  every  society. 
And  yet  it  is  claimed  by  the  founder  of  the  movement  and  his  associates 


THE  CONDITIONS  OF  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  SOCIETIES     383 

that  it  "is  the  most  vital  and  important  thing  in  the  society,"  and, 
indeed,  that  the  societies  cannot  well  exist  without  it.  That  the  pastors 
are  so  persuaded  is  evidenced  by  this  apparent  inconsistency  on  their 
part,  that,  while  not  one  out  of  fifteen  claims  it  is  kept,  forty-one  per 
cent,  of  those  who  wrote  me  unquaHfiedly  favored  its  retention,  and  of 
those  who  answered  the  large  Endeavor  questionnaire  nearly  seventy- 
nine  per  cent.  But  some  of  the  strongest  young  people's  societies  in  the 
country  have  never  adopted  the  Christian  Endeavor  pledge.  The  num- 
ber of  those  who  have  dropped  it  and  yet  live  in  vigor  is  a  refutation  of 
the  charge.  If  they  died,  it  was  because  they  lost,  not  the  pledge,  but 
the  vital  thing  of  which  the  pledge  is  only  the  symbol,  the  sense  of  obli- 
gation. In  this  age  when  embezzlements,  breaches  of  fidelity,  and  the 
constant  use  of  deceit  and  untruth  in  business  affairs  are  becoming 
common,  and,  if  they  be  gigantic  enough,  almost  respectable,  it  behooves 
the  church  to  see  that  all  its  covenants  be  wisely  stated,  practicable,  and 
enforceable. 

The  pledge  as  to  taking  part  in  meeting  is  objectionable  for  several 
other  reasons:  (i)  This  emphasis  of  the  pledge  is  in  the  wrong  place. 
It  gives  more  words  to  the  matter  of  the  meeting  than  to  all  the  other 
obhgations  of  the  Christian  life.  The  thought  of  the  Endeavorer  in 
approaching  the  sacred  topic  of  any  meeting  gets  to  be,  not,  "What  can 
I  learn  about  it  ?"  or,  "What  ought  I  do  to  about  it ?"  but,  "What  can 
I  find  to  say  about  it  ?  "  The  young  person  meets  thus  unnecessarily 
that  most  subtle  temptation  of  the  preacher — to  apply  truth  to  others 
rather  than  to  himself.  This  explains  much  unreal  preaching,  and  it 
accounts  for  the  painful  and  unconsciously  priggish  ethical  harangues 
of  the  Endeavor  prayer-meeting.  The  pledge,  I  am  sure,  is  broken, 
not  because  it  is  forgotten,  but  because  the  youth  unconsciously  feels 
the  unreality  and  peril  of  such  relations  to  truth.  (2)  Its  demands  are 
unreasonable.  The  remark  has  been  made  that  a  Christian  should 
be  willing  to  promise  to  do  whatever  he  ought  to  do.  The  answer  is: 
This  is  not  what  all  Christians  ought  to  do.  Some  very  noble  Chris- 
tians, as  Paul  declares,  in  the  diversity  of  gifts  have  not  the  gift  of 
prophecy.  Yet  there  remains  no  place  for  such  but  the  partial  ostra- 
cism to  an  associate  membership.  I  freely  grant  that  the  pledge  will 
produce  liveher  meetings  than  any  other  method,  but  will  it  produce 
better  Christians?  I  do  not  minimize  the  value  of  oral  expression  of 
ideals.  No  less  a  one  than  President  Eliot  has  asserted  that  such  expres- 
sion is  an  important  factor  in  their  continued  possession.  But  the 
stated  purpose  to  make  such  expression  will  bring  a  spontaneous  fre- 
quency that  is  more  pleasing  than  the  forced  regularity  secured  by  the 


384  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

pledge.  (3)  The  pledge  is  a  failure.  Pastors  testify  that  it  is  not  kept. 
The  United  Society  acknowledges  that  this  "artificial  backbone"  needs 
propping  up  by  assigning  to  the  lookout  committees  a  benevolent  espi- 
onage. If  the  pastor  complains  of  the  infraction,  he  is  asked  if  he  has 
done  his  part  to  help  its  fulfilment,  and  so  the  United  Society  must  push 
the  pastor  to  brace  the  lookout  committee  to  force  the  members  to  keep 
the  pledge,  which  in  turn  was  supposed  to  be  the  staff  of  strength. 

What,  then,  may  an  Endeavor  society  do  about  it  ?  It  seems  to  me 
that  there  are  three  honorable  courses,  one  of  which  a  society  may  take 
in  case  its  members  are  not  keeping  the  pledge:  (i)  To  consider  anew 
the  serious  nature  of  its  obligations,  and  unanimously  to  agree  on  its 
readoption  and  the  enforcement  of  the  penalty  of  expulsion  on  every 
infraction.  The  societies  thus  reorganized  will  be  very  smaU  at  first, 
and  they  will  be  vigorous  only  as  long  as  this  rule  is  lived  up  to.  (2)  To 
adopt  President  Clark's  idea,  stated  in  his  letter  to  the  Christian  En- 
deavor World,  of  January  28,  suggesting  that  the  pledge  and  active 
membership  idea  be  retained  for  those  who  wish  it,  and  that  there  be 
added  "affihated  members,  those  Christians  who  can  perform  some 
of  the  society's  duties,  but  cannot  do  full  service,  and  who  feel  that 
they  cannot  take  the  active  member's  pledge."  By  this  plan  those  who 
keep  the  pledge  can  continue  to  be  sustained  by  it,  while  those  who  can- 
not keep  it  and  yet  want  to  be  helpful  can  find  an  honorable  place  in 
the  society.  Or  (3)  to  let  the  element  of  obligation,  which  the  United 
Society,  pastors,  and  all  of  us  are  agreed  is  the  vital  thing,  come  in  some 
other  way:  not  pledge,  but  fulfilment;  not  a  promissory  note,  but  a 
purpose;  not  a  parole,  but  something  to  do.  No  society  ever  died  that 
had  something  to  do,  and  it  is  easier  to  find  something  to  do  than  to  keep 
a  pledge  alive.  Unite  the  members  by  some  simple  expression  of  pur- 
pose and  set  about  some  immediate  activity.  This  lays  a  great  burden 
on  leaders,  pastors,  or  laymen,  and  I  acknowledge  that  in  case  of  remov- 
als the  pledge  may  keep  a  certain  fictitious  life  agoing,  which  a  mere 
purpose  will  not  do ;  but  the  real  life  will  not  be  there  in  any  case  without 
a  leader,  and  it  will  revive  just  as  soon  from  a  group  that  has  taken  a 
vacation  as  from  one  that  is  taking  a  nap,  when  a  leader  reappears. 

The  societies  which  have  organized  or  reorganized  outside  the 
auspices  of  Christian  Endeavor  are  curiously  unanimous  in  uniting  in 
the  manner  which  I  have  just  advised.  I  have  received  news  from 
twenty-one  such  societies  in  the  Congregational  church.  All  of  them 
have  dropped  the  mechanical  features  from  the  pledge,  making  it  into 
a  statement  of  ideals.  Thirteen  of  them  have  also  abolished  the  ficti- 
tious distinction  between  active  and  associate  membership.    Ten  of  them 


THE  CONDITIONS  OF  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  SOCIETIES     385 

have  simplified  the  committee  system.  One  has  created  an  age  Umit, 
at  thirty  years.  All  but  one  claim  to  be  successful.  After  allowing  for 
the  personal  equation  and  the  enthusiasm  of  novelty,  I  have  sufficient 
knowledge  of  most  of  them  to  know  that  they  are  so.  There  is  a  reality 
in  freer  methods  which  brings  with  it  a  new  spirit.  This  may  fail  or 
falter  in  time.  Young  people  are  fickle.  They  like  change.  But 
who  can  doubt  that  these  men  have  secured  something  which  we  all  pray 
for,  and  that  in  hearty  union  about  an  ideal  for  specific  tasks  there  seem 
to  be  the  elements  of  permanency  and  power  which  the  following  of 
unreal  and  conventional  standards  lacks? 

My  final  inquiry  as  to  the  future  of  these  societies  is  as  to  the  possi- 
bility of  changing  the  sad  disproportion  of  the  sexes  in  the  member- 
ship. The  societies  are  simply  perpetuating,  not  modifying,  the  minority 
of  the  male  sex  in  the  church,  being  apparently  much  less  successful  in 
reaching  boys  and  young  men  than  they  were  in  the  genesis  of  the 
movement,  and  far  less  so  than  the  Sunday  school  is  even  up  to  the 
present.  In  my  correspondence  I  sought  to  know  the  reasons  for  this, 
and  I  received  many  answers.  Many  said:  "For  the  same  reason  that 
there  are  more  women  than  men  in  the  church,  and  because  of  the 
example  of  older  men."  Others  more  definitely  answered  that  young 
men  are  less  susceptible  to  religious  influences  than  are  young  women, 
some  who  particularize  saying  that  young  men  have  more  freedom  of 
movement;  have  more  places  to  which  they  go,  especially  evenings;  are 
more  exposed  to  temptations  on  the  street  and  in  business;  that  they  are 
subject  more  to  sins  of  the  body,  while  girls  are  more  subject  to  sins  of 
the  mind ;  that  young  men  dislike  prayer-meetings  and  are  more  reserved 
about  religious  expression.  In  inquiring  how  the  disproportion  can  be 
changed,  some  said:  "It  cannot  be  done;"  others  urged,  by  beginning 
earlier  with  boys,  by  paying  special  attention  to  men,  by  having  more 
manly  pastors  and  leaders,  by  doing  more  virile  and  heroic  things,  by 
using  athletic  and  social  methods  more  extensively. 

I  feel  that  the  reasons  for  this  disproportion  and  the  secrets  of  any 
change  lie  deep  in  the  nature  of  man.  Boys  are  just  as  social  as  girls. 
Dr.  H.  D.  Sheldon  found  in  a  thousand  returns  that  eight  out  of  ten 
boys  belonged  to  some  social  organization.  But  boys  are  not  as  easily 
led  as  girls,  and  the  proportion  of  boys  to  girls  in  all  societies  formed 
by  adults  for  them  was  found  to  be  only  forty  per  cent.  Mr.  Irving 
King  explains  this  by  saying  that  "boys  display  more  initiative  and 
individuality  than  girls,  and  hence  are  less  under  the  influence  of  social 
suggestion,  while  being  still  keenly  social  in  their  activities."  Boys 
almost   never   spontaneously   organize  with   girls.     The  reason  the 


386  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

Sunday  school  holds  boys  better  than  the  Endeavor  society,  even  when 
the  latter  has  many  attractions,  is  probably  because  the  sexes  are  taught 
in  separate  classes.  All  lodges,  societies,  and  social  gatherings  where 
men  and  women  meet  together  have  a  larger  proportion  of  women 
than  men.  The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  never  attempts 
to  do  religious  work  for  men  and  women  together.  Boys  are  just  as 
religious  as  girls,  but  they  do  not  keep  their  religion  in  separate  compart- 
ments, as  girls  do.  And  as  for  religious  meetings,  as  Mr.  Edward  K. 
Allen  remarks  in  his  study  of  the  "Religion  of  Boyhood":  "The  part 
which  activity  plays  in  a  boy's  religion  is  more  evident  than  the  part 
which  his  sentiments  play."  To  most  young  men  an  expression  of 
religion  which  consists  mainly  of  an  expression  of  the  feelings  seems 
one-sided  and  futile.  The  class-meeting  idea  will  never  be  popular  with 
them.  Those  who  organize  boys  alone  almost  instinctively  seem  to 
shun  it.  The  prayer-meeting  pledge  is  therefore  essentially  repugnant 
and  unadapted  to  the  masculine  nature.  The  church  is  generally  an 
organization  feminine  in  ideal  and  methods.  The  Endeavor  society  is 
imitative  of  its  mother.  While  the  adoption  of  more  virile  methods  by 
Endeavor  societies,  and  the  giving  of  as  much  honor  to  the  activities 
of  the  hand  as  to  those  of  the  tongue,  will  probably  increase  the  pro- 
portion of  male  members,  I  am  convinced  that  if  young  men  and  boys 
are  to  be  reached  religiously  in  any  such  proportion  as  are  women,  they 
must  be  organized  separately.  The  method  of  Jesus  seems  to  be  our 
guide.  He  called  twelve  men  and  kept  them  separate,  living  out-of- 
doors  with  them  as  much  as  possible,  and  holding  them,  not  by  a  prayer- 
meeting,  but  by  giving  them  his  friendship  and  something  to  do.  The 
great  growth  of  church  boys'  clubs  and  camps  and  of  men's  clubs  along- 
side of  prosperous  Endeavor  societies  seems  to  be  an  instinctive  recog- 
nition of  the  need  and  a  grasp  of  the  right  method.  Wholesome  as 
are  the  presence  of  young  women  and  the  spiritual  influences  of  the 
Endeavor  society,  I  believe  they  are  destined  always  to  help  but  a  small 
share  of  the  young  men  whom  the  church  may  expect  and  work  to  reach. 
Male  youth  will  continue  to  feel  and  desire  socially  to  show  that  religion 
is  as  essentially  present  on  the  school  field  as  in  the  prayer-meeting. 
Young  men,  too,  are  more  apt  for  this  reason  to  feel  that  the  creating 
of  a  specially  honored  class  of  active  members,  who  are  such  because 
active  with  their  lips,  is  creating  an  essentially  false  and  unrepre- 
sentative kind  of  distinction.  Boys  think  that,  as  in  studying  handi- 
craft, so  in  religion,  one  learns  more  about  trying  to  do  a  thing  for  half 
an  hour  than  in  hearing  for  a  month  how  others  did  it. 

As  far  as  the  present  investigation  is  valid,  it  seems  to  point  to  the 


THE  CONDITIONS  OF  YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  SOCIETIES     387 

following  summary  of  suggestions:  (i)  many  old  societies  and  most 
new  ones  would  be  more  honest,  and  probably  equally  successful,  if 
they  would  substitute  a  simple  purpose  for  a  cast-iron  pledge  in  their 
constitutions;  (2)  many  societies  might  wisely  choose  their  work  before 
they  choose  their  committees,  and  discharge  all  committees  that  find  no 
work  to  do;  (3)  most  societies  should  adapt  their  work  more  to  young 
men,  and  in  many  churches  a  separate  work  with  boys  and  young  men 
is  advisable;  (4)  the  matter  of  transition  from  one  grade  of  the  society 
to  another,  and  finally  out  of  the  society  into  the  church  life,  awaits 
wiser  and  more  decisive  arrangement;  (5)  a  successful  young  people's 
society  demands  more  attention  from  the  church,  and  the  restoration  of 
long  pastorates,  (6)  in  order  to  obtain  and  retain  closer  relations  to  the 
church,  it  is  worth  considering  whether,  if  self-origination  and  obligation 
can  be  as  well  attained  in  this  way,  our  young  people's  societies,  instead 
of  being  separate  forces,  may  not  spring  directly  out  of  certain  grades  of 
the  Sunday  school,  and  thus  constitute  the  week-day  extension  of  the 
church  school  into  practical  endeavor.  By  this  plan  not  only  different 
sexes,  but  different  classes,  can  be  reached  and  held.  In  many  churches 
of  any  size  the  young  people's  society  includes  a  certain  special  group, 
or  social  clan,  and  all  others  hold  aloof.  It  is  often  unwise  and  unneces- 
sary to  break  up  such  groups  of  friends.  It  is  necessary  to  organize 
others.  But  all  these  groups — some  of  boys,  some  of  girls;  some  meet- 
ing for  devotion,  some  for  social  intercourse,  some  for  mercy  and  help; 
and  all  culminating  usually  in  a  permanent  movement  for  spiritual 
expression  through  voice  and  hand — can  at  least  be  federated,  can 
emulate  each  other,  open  their  advantages  to  each  other,  and  thus  help 
to  furnish  with  the  Sunday  school  a  complete  institute  for  young  people 
within  the  church. 

The  young  people's  movement  is  not  going  to  die  or  even  to  decay. 
Its  founders  have  recalled  the  child  to  the  church's  midst,  and  there  he 
is  to  remain,  close  to  her  heart.  Not  only  the  origin,  but  the  very  form, 
of  the  movement  was  providential.  But  if  the  form  changes,  it  will 
be  only  to  continue  the  union  of  our  young  people  in  some  still  more 
powerful  and  blessed  manner  in  the  processes  of  character-training  and 
Christian  exercise  for  the  upbuilding  of  the  church  and  Kingdom  of  our 
God. 


THE  TEST  OF  SUCCESS  IN  CHURCH  BOYS'  CLUBS 
REV.  GEORGE  G.  BARTLETT, 

RECTOR  MEMORIAL  CHURCH  OF   ST.   PAUL,   OVERBROOK,   PHILADELPHIA 

I  assume  that  membership,  sincere  and  earnest,  in  a  rehgious  society 
is  useful  and  worthy.  Two  questions  follow:  (i)  Does  the  Church 
Boys'  Club  in  any  marked  degree  achieve  this  end  ?  (2)  Have  we, 
who  long  for  such  a  crowning  result  to  our  labors,  any  right  to  make  it 
a  test  of  our  success  or  failure? 

First,  then,  does  the  Church  Boys'  Club  to  any  marked  degree  play 
the  part  of  a  recruiting  agency  for  the  church  ?  The  question  is  a 
difficult  one;  and  its  answer  will  naturally  be  colored  by  the  personal 
experience  of  the  worker  who  gives  it.  This  experience,  quite  apart 
from  all  considerations  of  individual  enthusiasm  and  inborn  faculty, 
will,  it  is  obvious,  be  materially  affected  by  the  character  of  the  com- 
munity in  which  his  club  is  set.  My  own  experience,  so  far  as  it  goes, 
has  come  in  the  course  of  some  years  of  life  on  the  East  Side  of  New 
York  city  in  the  midst  of  a  tenement  population  prevailingly  of  German 
extraction.  In  this  work  we  found  that  it  was  by  no  means  impossible, 
scarcely  even  difficult,  to  bring  the  boys  in  our  clubs  under  the  direct 
religious  influence  of  our  church.  Most  of  the  boys  in  the  gymnasium 
classes  and  in  the  clubs  joined  our  Sunday  school  in  one  or  other  of  its 
branches,  and  that  quite  without  undue  influence  on  our  part,  and 
without  shadow  of  bribery.  Most  of  them,  too,  at  or  about  the  age  of 
fourteen,  presented  themselves  willingly  for  Confirmation.  All  this,  as 
far  as  it  went,  was  most  satisfactory;  it  gave  us  what  we  wanted — an 
opportunity  for  personal  and  systematic  Christian  teaching.  But 
Sunday  school,  and  Confirmation  particularly,  are  more  matters  of 
custom  and  acquired  habit  in  a  German  community  than  among  any 
other  nationality.  A  German  boy  or  girl  looks  upon  Confirmation 
largely  as  a  natural  and  eminently  proper  experience.  The  real  test, 
then,  of  whether  the  Boys'  Club  in  such  a  neighborhood  as  that  has 
achieved  a  distinctively  spiritual  result  must  not  be  looked  for  among 
the  younger  boys,  ranging  from  twelve  to  sixteen  or  seventeen  years  of 
age,  but  among  their  next  older  brothers  who  have  graduated  into  the 
Young  Men's  Club.  And  among  the  young  men  a  very  different  situation 
was  disclosed.  A  mere  handful  of  them  were  either  members  of  the 
Bible  class,  or  regular  or  even  frequent  attendants  at  the  Sunday  serv- 


THE  TEST  OF  SUCCESS  IN  CHURCH  BOYS'  CLUBS      389 

ices.  Do  what  we  would,  it  seemed  impossible  to  reverse  this  unsatis- 
factory balance.  In  short,  we  failed  beyond  all  denial  so  to  win  the 
boys  that  when  they  became  young  men  we  could  count  on  their  active 
participatioii  in  that  higher  range  of  the  life  of  the  spirit  which  to  us 
seemed  so  important. 

Therefore,  I  do  not  think  that  even  its  most  enthusiastic  advocates, 
among  whom  I  number  myself,  can  honestly  claim  that  the  Boys'  Club 
has  solved,  or  bids  fair  to  solve,  the  problem  of  church  attendance.  Is 
my  experience  typical  or  exceptional  ?  For  my  own  part,  I  believe  it 
to  be  typical;  and  in  that  belief  find  myself  confronted  by  two  most 
urgent  questions:  Why  is  this  so  ?  and,  Have  we  the  right  to  make  this 
failure,  as  some  of  us  would  do,  the  final  test  of  the  Church  Boys'  Club  ? 

To  answer  the  first  question,  or  even  to  attempt  to  answer  it  in  any 
adequate  fashion,  would  lead  us  too  far  afield.  It  is  really  part  of  a 
much  larger  and  more  serious  question.  It  is  not  the  Boys'  Club  alone 
that  thus  falls  short  of  the  spiritual  achievement  we  desire;  it  is  the 
whole  church.  The  cry  is  going  up  everywhere  that  the  church  is  not 
laying  hold  as  it  should  upon  the  workingman — a  cry  that  Mr.  Charles 
Booth's  wonderful  study  of  the  religious  condition  of  London  has  done 
much  to  emphasize  in  the  past  year.  But  though  I  may  not  venture  to 
linger  over  this  point,  I  may,  and  indeed  must,  suggest  two  contributory 
and  important. reasons;  the  one  a  great  blot  in  the  life  of  the  people,  the 
other  a  great  blot  in  the  life  of  the  church. 

The  more  closely  I  became  acquainted  with  the  tenement-house  life 
of  the  families  from  which  my  Boys'  Club  friends  were  drawn,  the  more 
did  I  come  to  feel  that  we  were  demanding  from  them  an  impossibility 
when  we  expected  them  to  share  in  the  higher  spiritual  life  of  Chris- 
tianity. It  is  beyond  them;  beyond  at  least  the  great  mass  of  them. 
From  the  day  he  is  born  to  the  day  he  dies  the  tenement  dweller  of  a 
great  city  is  never  alone.  He  never  once  knows  what  it  means  to  be 
private.  He  eats,  he  sleeps,  he  bathes,  he  dresses,  in  public.  Yet 
privacy  is  an  essential  element  in  the  spiritual  life.  To  know  his  own. 
heart,  and  to  feel  the  need  of  lifting  up  that  heart  in  dependence  to  One 
who  is  invisible  and  silent,  this  can  be  learned  and  practiced  only  in 
the  silence  and  the  loneliness  of  the  soul.  It  was  not  in  the  sound  of 
of  the  wind,  or  in  the  earthquake,  but  in  "a  sound  of  gentle  stillness," 
that  God  spoke  to  Elijah.  Our  Lord  Himself  used  often  to  go  apart, 
apart  even  from  his  dearest  followers,  to  pray;  and  it  was  He  who  said: 
'But  thou,  when  thou  prayest,  enter  into  thy  closet  and  when  thou  hast 
shut  thy  door,  pray  to  thy  Father  which  is  in  secret."  My  friends  in 
New  York,  and  thousands  like  them,  have  no  closet  to  enter,  no  door  to 


390  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

shut.  How  then  can  we  expect  them  to  develop  very  far  that  spiritual  life 
which  in  us  all  belongs  to  the  sacred  and  close-veiled  privacy  of  the 
soul  ?  I  do  not  mean  that  this  is  not  the  ideal  to  be  sought  even  for  them, 
and  earnestly  sought ;  nor  would  I  be  understood  as  saying  that  no  tene- 
ment dweller  ever  grasps  and  approximates  to  a  realization  of  that 
ideal.  But  I  think  that  we  often  employ  a  standard  of  religious  devel- 
opment in  our  judgment  of  such  boys  as  my  lot  was  cast  among  which 
the  very  conditions  of  their  life  render  practically  impossible  of  attain- 
ment, at  least  for  the  present. 

The  church  too  is  at  fault,  I  think,  in  this,  that  her  whole  attitude 
toward  these  spiritually  undeveloped  souls  is  one  of  condescension. 
We  come  among  them  with  our  own  high  ideals;  we  measure  their  life 
and  work  by  these  ideals ;  we  forget  that  not  the  plane  the  man  has 
reached  is  the  real  test  of  his  Christian  character,  but  the  direction  in 
which  his  face  is  turned,  and  the  speed  of  his  progress.  This  same 
fault  shows  itself  in  another  way :  the  church  everywhere  is  too  aristo- 
cratic. It  is  the  few  —  the  best  they  are  too,  commonly,  and  the 
spiritually  minded,  but  still  the  few — that  determine  the  policy  and  do 
the  work  of  the  church.  And  so  we  lose  those  immense  moral  forces  of 
responsibility  and  co-operation;  we  lose  the  common  people  because 
we  fear  to  trust  them.  Were  we  to  give  the  young  man  of  the  East  Side 
a  share  in  determining  the  ideals  that  should  govern  his  church,  and  a 
share  in  the  work,  a  full  and  significant  share,  we  should  have  a  harder 
task  of  guidance  indeed,  but  we  should,  I  am  confident,  have  an  incom- 
parably stronger  hold  upon  the  masses. 

Against  these  two  enormous  difficulties  not  even  the  Boys'  Club  can 
successfully  struggle.  The  boys  themselves  may  be  noble  fellows  at 
heart,  and  the  Club  wisely  planned  and  efficiently  managed;  but  if  we 
expect  it  in  the  present  circumstances  to  achieve  such  spiritual  results 
as  I  have  mentioned,  we  are  looking  for  nothing  short  of  a  miracle. 

If  this  be  true,  we  have  already  found  the  answer  to  that  other  ques- 
tion :  Have  we  the  right  to  make  appreciation  of  the  spiritual  privileges 
of  the  church  the  test  of  the  success  or  failure  of  our  club  work  with  boys  ? 
Evidently  we  have  not.  Our  test  must  be  a  different  one,  and  less  ambi- 
tious and  exacting  by  far.  And  so,  though  I  deeply  sympathize  with 
them,  I  hold  those  mistaken  and  narrow-visioned  who  feel  that  because 
they  do  not  draw  the  members  of  the  Club  to  church,  their  Club  is  a 
dismal  failure. 

But  what  may  the  Club  do?  Has  it  then  any  adequate  religious 
purpose  ?  Undoubtedly  it  has.  The  Christian  life  is  very  much  more 
than  churchgoing,  very  much  more  than  the  appreciative  use  of  those 


THE  TEST  OF  SUCCESS  IN  CHURCH  BOYS'  CLUBS       391 

blessed  opportunities  which  in  theological  parlance  we  term  "the  means 
of  grace."  Christianity  is  character;  and  the  Boys'  Club  is  a  most 
powerful  means  of  strengthening  and  developing  character.  And  this 
in  two  ways,  negative  and  positive.  It  keeps  the  boy  out  of  mischief, 
temptation,  and  evil;  and  it  opens  to  him  the  sight,  and  therefore  the 
attraction,    of   personal   goodness. 

I  was  talking  once  with  an  East  Side  boy,  one  of  the  keenest  and 
quickest  fellows  I  have  ever  met.  We  were  dining  together  in  a  hotel 
just  off  Union  Square,  hidden  away  in  a  private  corner  of  the  cafe;  and 
as  we  talked,  we  heard  a  commotion  in  the  next  room,  where  the  bar 
stood,  and  an  Englishman's  voice.  It  was  one  of  the  most  peculiar 
voices,  accompanied  by  one  of  the  most  peculiar  laughs  I  have  ever 
heard.  My  companion  stopped  short  in  the  midst  of  a  sentence,  at  the 
sound,  and  said:  "I  know  that  fellow;  he  used  to  hang  around  in  there 
half-drunk  when  I  was  a  boy ;  he  always  gave  me  fifty  cents  when  I  sold 
him  a  paper."  And  led  on  by  the  familiar  voice,  he  told  me  the  story 
of  his  early  years.  There  was  no  good  reason  why  he  should  have  been 
a  newsboy:  his  father  was  a  fairly  prosperous  tailor;  but  he  loved  the 
spice  and  adventure  of  it,  and  used  to  play  hookey  from  school  and 
from  home  to  sell  papers.  Union  Square  was  his  center,  and  from  there 
down  to  South  Washington  Square  he  ranged.  He  was  the  quickest 
and  the  most  fearless  of  the  newsboys  of  the  neighborhood,  and  soon 
became  a  leader  among  them.  His  brightness  and  wit  won  him  entrance 
into  most  of  the  saloons  and  restaurants  thereabout,  when  the  other 
boys  were  excluded ;  and  in  many  of  these  the  waiters  or  the  barkeeper 
would  save  the  dregs  of  drinks  for  him.  He  stole  when  he  could,  just 
for  the  excitement  of  the  thing;  and  with  great  glee  he  told  me  how  he 
once  had  picked  the  pocket  of  Mr.  Robert  Graham,  the  General  Secre- 
tary of  the  Church  Temperance  Society,  as  that  gentleman  stood  talking 
at  the  window  of  the  society's  coffee- van  in  the  square.  At  the  time  he 
told  me  this,  he  and  I  both  belonged  to  a  company  of  the  Church  Tem- 
perance Legion  which  claimed  Mr.  Graham  as  its  Adjutant  Com- 
mander. His  story  was  not  all  of  such  proud  recollections,  however. 
For  after  a  pause  he  said,  rather  slowly:  "The  boys  I  used  to  go  with 
around  here,  my  gang,  have  all  gone  to  the  devil,  and  mighty  fast." 
"Well,  John,"  I  asked,  "how  is  it  that  you  didn't  go  to  the  devil  too, 
with  them?"  "Well,  I'll  tell  you.  I  belonged  to  a  Boys'  Club  down 
near  my  house.  It  wasn't  much  of  a  club;  we  used  to  steal  and 
have  rough  house  all  we  pleased.  But  I  was  there  every  night."  And 
then  he  added,  with  a  momentary  seriousness  I  shall  not  soon  forget: 
"Mr.  Bartlett,  if  you  want  to  save  the  boys,  keep  them  off  the  streets  at 


592  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

night."  It  was  expert  testimony:  he  knew  whereof  he  spoke.  And 
what  he  said  puts  in  a  nutshell  the  whole  philosophy  of  the  Boys'  Club, 
secular  or  spiritual,  on  its  negative,  but  a  most  important,  side.  If 
the  Club  simply  keeps  the  boys  off  the  streets  at  night,  it  does  much; 
more  than  enough  to  pay  for  all  it  costs. 

But  the  Boys'  Club  does  much  more  than  this.  It  gives  a  chance  for 
personal  contact  and  influence,  a  power  whose  range  no  one  can  over- 
estimate. A  friend  of  mine,  who  was  with  me  in  the  management  of 
this  New  York  Club,  told  me  of  a  recent  experience  of  his  that  well 
illustrates  this  influence.  One  of  the  members  was  unusually  gruff  and 
ill-natured,  the  sort  of  fellow  who  persistently  wore  his  hat  and  smoked 
his  cigar  in  parts  of  the  parish  house  where  such  conduct  was  not  proper 
etiquette,  simply  because  this  behavior  increased  his  sense  of  independ- 
ence. At  root  he  was  a  very  sound  and  faithful  fellow  who  had  stood 
manfully  by  a  sickly  and  silly  mother,  long  widowed,  and  his  two  sisters, 
the  older  half-witted  and  giddy,  the  younger  dehcate  and  helpless. 
Between  these  two,  my  friend  and  this  cantankerous  youth,  there  grew 
up  a  friendship  surprisingly  warm.  They  had  not  seen  one  another 
for  over  a  year  when  my  friend  went  back  to  New  York  to  speak  before 
his  old  club.  Meanwhile  this  boy  had  drifted  away;  but  he  came  in 
shamefacedly  toward  the  close  of  the  evening  and  stood  in  the  hall  with 
one  foot  on  a  bench.  My  friend  put  his  hand  on  the  fellow's  knee 
for  a  moment,  and  to  his  surprise  found  it  held  tight  in  a  warm  and 
loving  grasp  for  the  ten  minutes  they  stood  there  talking;  when  he  was 
carried  away  by  his  friend  to  meet  the  girl  to  whom  he  was  engaged, 
or,  as  they  say  on  the  East  Side,  "married."  Now  this  young  fellow 
has  drifted  away  wholly  from  the  church,  for  he  is  something  of  a  reader 
and  a  thinker,  and  is  honestly  puzzled  over  certain  theological  matters. 
But  spite  of  this,  spite  too  of  his  gruff  and  cranky  mannerisms,  the  real 
friendship  and  love  that  had  grown  up,  one  scarce  knows  how,  between 
him  and  this  young  parson  was  deep-rooted  and  permanent. 

This  shows  how  much  of  real  abiding  influence  a  man  who  works 
through  a  Club  in  such  a  spirit  as  this  may  wield.  It  is  literally  immeas- 
urable. And  when  in  the  Club  you  add  to  the  fundamental  conquest 
of  keeping  the  boy  off  the  street,  this  power  of  personal  influence, 
exercised  by  an  adequate  number  of  devoted  and  patient  and  humorous 
men,  you  have  an  agency  of  untold  value  for  the  making  of  character. 
The  newsboy  of  whom  I  spoke  a  moment  since  saw  this  point  too.  For 
many  months  a  committee  had  been  discussing  the  best  form  to  mold 
our  Club,  which  was  then  reorganizing  and  expanding.  "We  must 
have  a  Club  with  principles,"  said  one  lad,  "or  it  won't  last  long." 


THE  TEST  OF  SUCCESS  IN  CHURCH  BOYS'  CLUBS  393 

"Yes,"  answered  my  newsboy,  "but  I'll  tell  you  what  we  want  most  of 
all.  You  ministers  come  to  a  business  meeting  with  us  once  a  week, 
and  you  know  precious  little  about  us.  But  if  you  sit  down  in  a  corner 
with  one  or  two  of  us  and  get  to  talking,  you'll  know  more  about  what 
we're  like  in  an  hour  than  you'll  learn  in  the  business  meetings  in  a  year. 
And  that^s  what  we  need."  It  was  his  recognition  of  the  great  law  of 
spiritual  dynamics,  that  no  one  rises  in  the  scale  of  life  save  as  he  is  acted 
upon  by  some  person  higher  and  stronger  than  he.  It  was  expert  testi- 
mony again. 

But  to  do  this  great  work  a  man  must  have  "the  faculty;"  he  must 
have  instinctive  sympathy  with  a  boy's  interests  and  unshaped  character; 
he  must  have  some  sense  of  humor,  and  even  more  patience;  he  must 
have  deep  faith  in  the  essential  decency  and  rightmindedness  even  of 
the  fickle  and  quarrelsome  boy;  he  must  have  that  true  dignity  which 
shows  itself,  not  in  claiming  respect  for  one's  self  or  one's  position,  but 
in  yielding  respect  unfailingly  and  humbly  to  the  least  and  the  timidest 
of  his  boys.  Armed  with  such  weapons  as  these,  the  Boys'  Club  worker 
may  not  indeed,  and  probably  will  not,  draw  a  large  proportion  of  his 
boys  into  that  devout  worship  which  to  him  is  so  uplifting,  but  he  will 
do  a  work  whose  value  it  is  impossible  to  over-rate.  Through  life  those 
boys  will  be  the  purer,  the  stronger,  the  more  loving,  for  that  unpre- 
tentious and  trustful  friendship.  And  is  not  this  much  ?  Is  it  not  a 
considerable  part  of  the  Christian  ideal  ?  At  least  the  Founder  of  Chris- 
tianity so  held.  "Henceforth  I  call  you  not  servants,"  He  said  to  fol- 
lowers who  constantly  had  shown  how  strangely  they  misunderstood 
and  fell  below  His  spiritual  ambitions  for  them,  "for  the  servant  knoweth 
not  what  his  lord  doeth :  but  I  have  called  you  friends ;  for  all  things  that 
I  have  heard  of  my  Father  I  have  made  known  unto  you."  It  takes  much 
faith  so  to  reveal  the  Highest,  and  to  be  content  to  leave  that  revelation 
to  work  out  its  own  transforming  results  under  the  guidance  of  the 
Spirit  of  God;  but  nothing  short  of  such  patient  faith  befits  the  worker 
in  the  Church  Boys'  Club.  He  must  do  his  best,  and  leave  all  question 
of  result  to  God,  remembering  the  warning  of  one  of  the  great  leaders  of 
English  Christianity  that  the  final  duty  of  the  Christian  teacher  is  after 
all  to  make  very  sure  that  he  does  not  put  himself  in  the  way  between 
God  and  the  individual  soul. 

Such  patient  faith,  moreover,  is  justified  by  results.  It  is  wonder- 
ful how  much  power  can  be  exerted  over  boys  and  young  men  by  one 
who  utterly  rejects  the  method  of  compulsion  and  quasi-military  con- 
trol for  the  more  Christlike  method  of  affectionate  co-operation  and 
frank  sympathy — the  method  of  unreserved  friendship.     Trust  the  boys; 


394  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

show  them  that  you  trust  them;  make  it  your  constant  and  chief  endeavor 
to  uncover  the  moral  issues  and  the  principles  involved  in  the  problems 
that  come  before  them,  avoiding  all  nagging  and  all  confusing  of  external 
manners  with  downright  morality,  and  you  will  rarely,  if  ever,  have 
cause  for  disappointment.  They  will  be  of  cleaner  and  firmer  moral 
tissue  by  reason  of  the  trust  and  the  freedom  you  have  granted.  For, 
after  all,  human  nature,  save  where  evil  has  become  intrenched,  is  more 
ready  to  respond  to  the  appeal  of  goodness  than  we  commonly  suppose. 
"We  needs  must  love  the  highest  when  we  see  it."  And  the  real  problem 
before  the  club  worker  is  to  help  boys  to  see  the  highest  as  it  is,  to  reveal 
goodness  in  its  sweet  reasonableness,  to  be  an  unveiler  of  "the  beauty 
of  holiness."  If  he  does  that  faithfully,  drawing  the  curtains  well  apart, 
his  work  is  perfect  and  entire ;  and  its  results  he  may  leave  confidently 
to  Him  in  whose  hands  there  rest  for  each  individual  soul  of  man  "the 
issues  of  life." 


CHARACTER-MAKING  ELEMENTS  IN  YOUNG  MEN'S 

BIBLE  CLASSES 

REV.  W.  G.  FENNELL, 

PASTOR   SOUTH   BAPTIST   CHURCH,    NEWARK,    NEW  JERSEY 

Character  is  the  ultimate  goal  to  be  attained  as  the  resultant  of  all 
tendencies  rightly  guided.  Young  men  in  the  later  periods  of  adolescence 
and  even  in  the  earlier  years  of  mature  life  may  or  may  not  have  had 
intellectual  training.  The  probability  is  that  they  have  not  had  much 
Biblical  training,  and  now  the  time  is  Hmited  which  they  may  devote  to 
thorough  study.  The  teacher  must  make  the  most  of  his  opportunities 
to  effect  a  great  result  and  that  quickly.  Character  is  at  this  stage  a 
goal  in  sight.  The  end  in  view  is  not  the  acquirement  of  so  many  facts, 
but  rather  effects  produced  by  the  close  contact  of  the  mind  with  the 
Word.  Happily  we  have  passed  the  day  when  education  of  any  kind 
means  accumulation  of  knowledge.  As  Professor  Peabody  says:  "The 
end  of  education  is  not  information,  but  inspiration;  not  facts,  rules, 
tables,  but  insight,  initiative,  grasp,  growth,  character,  power." 

In  speaking  of  Bible  study  we  have  in  mind  the  comprehensive, 
expository  method.  The  fragmentary  method  has  had  its  day  and  has 
produced  some  good  results.  Notwithstanding  the  mosaics  formed  by 
skilful  use  of  scattered  texts;  notwithstanding  the  subtle  manipulations 
in  the  interest  of  doctrines  men  have  desired  to  believe,  there  have  been 
produced  strong  and  heroic  characters.  Still,  we  cannot  but  feel  that 
they  might  have  been  stronger  and  more  complete  had  they  had  the 
larger  method.  The  fragmentary  method  has  often  neglected  whole 
portions  of  the  Bible,  portions  that  are  necessary  to  a  large  and  whole- 
some view  of  the  truth.  Instead  of  meeting  the  critical  minds  of  young 
men  with  fairness  and  sympathy,  it  has  thrown  them  into  worse  confu- 
sion ;  as  a  result  it  often  failed,  and  in  these  days  of  investigation  still  more 
signally  fails,  to  command  their  confidence  and  serious  attention.  The 
new  method  is  loyal  to  the  whole  Bible.  WTiile  scientific  in  spirit,  it  is 
vital  to  human  need,  statesmanlike  in  its  range  of  thought,  universal  in 
its  application.  It  does  not  spend  its  time  in  trite  moralizing,  but  is 
constantly  bringing  into  view  moral  and  spiritual  imperatives;  it  is 
forever  compelling  the  thoughtful  student  to  acknowledge  that  the 
authority  claimed  for  the  Bible  is,  as  Professor  E.  C.  Moore  has  recently 
stated  it,  "a  real  authority — namely,  by  the  moral  and  spiritual  force  of 

395 


396  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

the  truth  it  contains."  Such  teaching,  continued  long  enough  for  a 
general  knowledge,  must  have  a  commanding  influence  in  the  making  of 
character.  In  mentioning  some  of  the  elements  of  character  which  may 
be  expected  to  result  from  such  study,  we  follow  the  lines  of  personal 
experience  and  observation. 

1.  First  of  all,  as  the  stock  from  which  all  others  grow,  is  insight. 
This  is  the  soul's  awakening  to  the  worth  of  character  itself  and  to  the 
larger  interpretation  of  truth  and  life.  Dr.  George  A.  Gordon  says: 
"When  we  say  of  a  writer,  he  is  less  mature  in  his  thinking,  less  closely 
reasoned  in  his  opinions  than  we  could  wish  .  .  .  .  ,  we  cancel  these 
defects  when  we  add  that  in  his  utterance  we  discover  original  vision  of 
divine  things."  To  lift  the  young  man  of  the  age  into  a  realm  above 
materialism;  to  give  him  power  to  know,  not  events  only,  but  the  philos- 
ophy of  events;  to  give  him  a  sufficiently  wide  range  to  make  him  judi- 
cious in  the  adjustment  of  detail ;  to  give  him  poise  and  reserve  power 
in  his  possession  of  unmeasured  resources,  the  awakening  of  insight  is 
all-important.  It  was  in  Dr.  Harper's  English  Bible  class  in  Isaiah  some 
years  ago  in  New  Haven  that  some  of  us  saw  the  mists  gradually  fade 
away,  revealing  a  wide  landscape  and  an  ocean-expanse  of  truth.  It  is 
not  Isaiah  alone,  but  the  whole  Bible,  which  has  this  effect  upon  the 
student.  From  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis,  where  the  making  of  a 
universe  is  luminous  with  the  presence  and  creative  energy  of  God,  to 
the  Revelation,  where  an  eternal  purpose  is  revealed  in  an  age  of 
fiercest  conflict,  one  breathes  the  atmosphere  of  a  realm  unseen,  but 
nevertheless  real.  One  finds  himself  growing  to  calm  of  soul  as  he 
studies.  "He  that  believeth  shall  not  get  into  a  panic."  With  the 
prophet  Habakkuk,  from  the  view  of  the  streets  where  he  cries,  "How 
long,  O  Lord,  how  long?"  he  rises  to  the  watch-tower  and  awaits 
what  God  will  speak.  In  that  wide  range  of  vision,  with  its  correct 
knowledge  of  the  trend  of  history,  he  is  not  only  calm,  but  his  confidence 
becomes  a  divine  enthusiasm. 

2.  Another  element  we  mention  is  initiative.  It  arises  in  large  meas- 
ure from  insight  and  sustains  its  energy  along  the  lines  of  activity  which 
insight  has  revealed  to  be  of  highest  worth.  It  means  the  awakening  and 
enthronement  of  the  will.  According  to  Wundt's  Psychology,  sensa- 
tions and  feelings  unite  in  composite  feelings;  composite  feelings  intensi- 
fied become  emotions,  and  emotions  intensified  become  in  turn  volitions 
or  expressions  of  will.  This  order  seems  especially  true  in  the  study  of 
the  Bible.  Its  teachings  and  incidents  "find"  us  on  every  page.  It  is 
written,  not  in  the  language  of  theory,  but  in  the  common  tongue  of 
daily  life.    It  is  constantly  stirring  the  feelings;  these  often  aroused, 


CHARACTER-MAKING  IN  BIBLE  CLASSES  397 

with  the  appeal  to  highest  intelligence,  awaken  deep  emotions,  which  by 
and  by  break  the  barriers  and  carry  the  soul  forward  with  a  resistless 
tide.  In  a  faithfully  conducted  Bible  class  we  see  strong  men  coming, 
one  by  one,  without  any  special  evangelistic  method,  to  yield  to  the  will 
of  the  great  teacher  Jesus  Christ.  In  their  experience  they  say:  "The 
conviction  has  been  growing  upon  me."  Under  the  continued  study 
it  continues  to  grow  until  the  soul  seems  always  impelled  to  attain  new 
and  higher  grounds  of  Christian  life. 

This  experience  is  especially  marked  in  mission  fields:  "The 
entrance  of  thy  Word  giveth  light;"  "A  light  to  them  that  sit  in  darkness 
and  the  shadow  of  death — to  guide  our  feet  in  the  way  of  peace."  With 
light  they  bestir  themselves;  with  light,  it  is  no  longer  sitting  in  despair, 
but  movement  under  direction  and  to  a  definite  end.  The  sloth  of  ages 
is  shaken  off  with  almost  incredible  haste,  and  the  soul  is  awakened  to 
ambition  to  express  its  energy  in  all  directions.  A  new  star  has  appeared, 
and  they  go  forward  in  its  light.  One  of  the  most  successful  mission- 
aries of  China,  according  to  Dr.  Dennis,  is  he  who,  like  his  Master, 
leaves  the  crowd  to  give  greater  emphasis  to  teaching ;  who  Umits  himself 
to  sixty  students  a  year,  but  trains  this  limited  number  in  the  knowledge 
of  the  Word  to  the  full  measure  of  their  powers.  The  result  justifies  the 
effort;  for  these  men  are  unusually  strong  in  character — men  of  stead- 
fastness, aggressiveness,  and  efficiency.  It  is  the  testimony  everywhere 
that  an  earnest  comprehensive  study  of  the  Word  is  a  ground  of  sus- 
tained initiative.  The  mind  of  man  as  a  wire  comes  in  contact  with  the 
living  truth  as  with  a  dynamo.  There  is  a  steady  and  intense  glow  of 
purpose  and  activity  as  new  truth  is  revealed. 

3.  A  third  element  of  character  largely  influenced  by  Bible-class 
study  is  mastery.  Conquering  difficulties  is  an  impulse  of  religion, 
but  it  has  usually  expressed  itself  in  huge  buildings  of  stone  or  marble 
or  in  the  skilled  achievements  of  architecture.  In  Judaism  and  Chris- 
tianity this  impulse  to  conquer  has  been  directed  to  moral  and  spiritual 
ends.  Our  God  is  a  God  of  hoHness;  the  prophet  has  a  supreme  faith 
in  His  eternal  righteousness;  that  unrighteousness  must  ultimately  bow 
beneath  its  sway.  What  is  true  in  the  age-long  conflict  is  true  of  the 
individual.  "He  that  ruleth  his  spirit  is  better  than  he  that  taketh  a 
city." 

No  one  ever  touches  the  Bible  even  in  the  most  superficial  way  with- 
out the  suggestion  of  moral  improvement.  One  may  call  in  question 
its  ethics  in  some  Old  Testament  details,  but  ethics  is  somehow  bound 
up  in  its  teachings.  The  pastor  often  meets  the  man  who  professes  to 
discard  the  Bible,  but  he  commonly  adds  that  his  life  compares  favorably 


398  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

with  those  who  beUeve  it;  even  with  him  there  is  a  suggestion  of  right 
hving  in  the  mere  mention  of  the  Book.  More  than  once  has  it  been 
discovered  that  men  finding  the  Bible  as  a  new  discovery,  apart  from 
any  teacher  or  interpreter,  have  changed  their  Hves  in  an  attempt  at  con- 
formity with  its  teachings.  If  this  be  true  of  the  careless  glance,  how 
much  greater  must  be  the  effect  when  the  mind  gazes  long  upon  the 
truth  in  all  its  moral  and  spiritual  subUmity.  We  have  seen  it  in  the 
young  man  who  remains  away  from  the  Class  because  his  conscience  is 
so  keenly  sensitive;  we  have  seen  it  in  the  young  man  who  comes  to  the 
pastor  for  personal  help  and  sympathy  in  overcoming  specific  tempta- 
tion; we  have  seen  it  in  the  courageous  and  manly  attempts  of  many  to 
enthrone  the  better  nature,  to  place  the  world  and  wrong  beneath  their 
feet. 

The  philosopher  of  religion  finds  this  fundamental  difference  between 
religion  and  ethics.  It  is  an  impulse  of  religion  to  posit  itself,  to  repre- 
sent itself  in  systems,  institutions,  and  life.  The  aesthetic  posits  itself 
in  art,  architecture,  sculpture,  and  music;  the  ethical  has  no  institutions 
worthy  of  the  name,  and  is  commonly  studied  as  one  of  the  disciplines 
without  any  marked  effect  upon  life.  The  ethical  must  fall  back  upon 
the  religious  for  its  inspiration  and  energy,  and  must  depend  specifically 
upon  that  branch  of  religion  whose  end  is  moral  and  spiritual  blessed- 
ness. To  know  the  truth  and  through  the  truth  to  be  made  free  is  made 
contingent  upon  continuance  in  discipleship.  Such  discipleship  can 
hardly  be  more  strongly  or  healthfully  expressed  than  in  a  young  man's 
club  or  class  for  Bible  study.  Mastery,  with  its  requirement  of  cour- 
age, its  outlook  of  hope,  appeals  to  young  men ;  these  are  the  characteris- 
tic notes  of  Bible  history  and  teachings;  and  young  men  can  best  realize 
them,  for  they  stand  for  strength,  virility,  for  the  old  idea  of  virtue. 

4.  A  last  element  we  mention  in  this  connection  is  service.  Insight, 
initiative,  mastery,  courage — the  sum  of  these  is  little  more  than  individ- 
ualism. A  complete  character  according  to  the  modern  conception 
must  include  also  what  one  has  termed  "relationism."  The  man  has 
not  found  the  fulness  of  life  until  he  has  realized  his  relation  and  his 
duties  to  his  fellows.  This  is  not  a  reaction  to  utilitarianism.  As 
Professor  Peabody  has  so  well  said: 

What  the  modern  spirit  contemplates  is  not  a  retreat  from  idealism,  but  an 
expansion  of  ideaUsm.  It  enlarges  the  scope  of  personal  ends  through  observing 
their  social  relations.  It  deals,  not  with  man  alone,  but  with  man  among  other 
men;  not  with  the  atom,  but  with  the  organism;  not  with  a  Ptolemaic  doctrine  of 
the  universe  revolving  around  the  single  life,  but  with  a  Copernican  doctrine  where 
the  single  Ufe  finds  its  orbit  within  the  larger  world.  The  spirit  of  social  service  is 
not  a  reversion  from  ideaUsm,  but  a  new  appreciation  of  the  unity,  size,  and  range 
of  the  world  in  which  the  idealist  is  set. 


CHARACTER-MAKING  IN  BIBLE  CLASSES  399 

The  call  of  the  age  is  to  social  service.  To  this  end  what  study  so 
beneficial  as  that  of  the  Bible  ?  The  entire  record  is  a  condemnation  of 
selfish  individualism.  In  the  call  of  the  Jewish  people,  they  were  to 
exist  for  the  blessing  of  all  nations.  Their  exile  was  a  severe  rebuke 
for  their  failure  to  fulfil  their  mission.  The  remnant  and  the  suffering 
Servant  are  ever  working  in  behalf  of  others.  Christ  is  a  perfect  type 
of  individualism  and  relationism  in  harmony.  It  is  impossible  to  gaze 
upon  Him  in  a  spirit  of  discipleship  without  the  slow  transformation  to 
His  image.  This  is  accomplished,  not  by  warning  alone,  but  by  the 
inspiration  of  an  ideal  so  pure,  so  true,  and  so  human  that  the  soul  feels 
an  impelling  desire  to  realize  it. 

It  thus  appears  that  we  cannot  speak  too  strongly  of  the  worth  of 
healthful  methods  of  Bible  study  in  the  making  of  character.  Other 
studies  are  important;  this  is  all-important.  With  other  studies,  each 
has  its  portion  to  supply  as  masons,  carpenters,  or  decorators  in  a  great 
cathedral;  in  Bible  study  one  may  discover  the  plan  of  the  whole  in  the 
architect's  mind,  a  plan  conceived  with  reference  to  its  high  purpose, 
the  building  of  man  in  the  image  of  God.  For  the  realization  of  this 
ideal,  no  other  study  is  so  primary,  so  comprehensive,  so  ultimate.  It 
brings  to  light  essential  truth;  it  leads  us  to  the  standpoint  from  which 
all  truth  should  be  viewed;  it  presents  us  the  focal  point  to  which  all 
other  lines  of  study  must  converge.  Let  us  then  give  the  Bible  a  new 
prominence  in  our  work  for  young  men.  Let  us  consider  it  all-important 
to  obtain  the  highest  knowledge,  all  that  the  Spirit  of  God  and  intellectual 
achievement  may  supply.  Let  us  know  the  most  healthful  methods  and 
the  needs  of  young  men,  that  we  may  rightly  divide  and  rightly  apply  the 
word  of  truth.  Let  us  have  as  our  ideal,  not  a  prosperous  man,  not  a 
merely  educated  man,  not  a  moral  man  alone,  but  an  all-round,  fully 
developed  man — a  man  true  to  the  great  archetype  of  humanity,  Jesus 
Christ. 


[Department  XII,  The  Home,  presented  a  program  in  the  joint  session  of 
departments  on  "Religious  Education  in  the  Home,"  see  pages  21-54  above.  No 
separate  session  was  held  at  the  Philadelphia  Convention.] 


XIII.    LIBRARIES 


THE  RELIGIOUS  AND  ETHICAL  WORK  OF  LIBRARIES^ 

GEORGE  F.  BOWERMAN, 

LIBRARIAN   WILMINGTON   INSTITUTE   FREE  LIBRARY,   WILMINGTON,  DELAWARE 

It  has  been  generally  agreed  that  the  public  library  is  primarily  an 
educational  institution.  As  such  it  has  taken  its  place  side  by  side  with 
the  public  school.  As  the  school  is  non-religious,  so  is  the  library;  not 
irreligious  or  anti-religious,  but  simply  lacking  in  religious  color  and 
certainly  free  from  sectarian  bias.  Some  librarians  have  held  that  they 
could  not  with  propriety  engage  in  any  enterprise  that  might  involve 
them  in  a  religious  controversy.  In  view  of  this  fact,  it  may  not  be  out 
of  place,  before  beginning  an  enumeration  of  the  religious  and  ethical 
lines  of  activity  entered  upon  by  libraries,  to  point  out  the  justification 
for  such  activities. 

This  justification  is  found  by  the  librarian  in  the  motto  of  the  Ameri- 
can Library  Association:  "The  best  reading  for  the  largest  number  at 
the  least  cost."  The  library  of  course  makes  its  first  appeal  to  the 
individual  reader,  and,  when  reduced  to  its  lowest  terms,  library  work 
consists  in  supplying  books  asked  for  to  those  who  apply.  But  no 
librarian  worthy  of  the  name  is  content  to  let  his  sole  work  remain  on 
that  plane.  It  is  ever  his  aim  to  increase  its  quantity,  both  in  number 
of  readers  and  variety  of  books,  and  its  quality,  substituting  better  and 
best  books  for  simply  good  books.  Moreover,  he  is  not  content  to 
approach  his  readers  simply  as  individuals,  but  also  meets  them  as 
associations,  institutions,  and  societies;  for  thus  can  larger  results  be 
gained  more  efficiently  and  economically.  It  is  because  of  the  cor- 
porate capacity  of  such  bodies,  and  not  because  of  their  religious  char- 
acter, that  the  public  library  can  make  large  purchases  of  books  to  meet 
the  needs  of  a  missionary  society,  or  send  a  travehng  library  to  a  Sunday 
school  or  a  parochial  school.  So  long  as  this  is  done  impartially  and 
in  response  to  a  demand,  no  more  criticism  can  justly  fall  on  the  library 
than  when  it  buys  a  special  book  for  an  individual.  This  latter  every 
library  constantly  does,  provided  the  book  is  within  its  means  and  the 
scope  of  its  collection. 

In  order  to  present   the   most  recent   information  regarding  the 

'  The  full  paper,  which  is  here  considerably  abridged,  was  published  in  the  Library  Journal  for 
June,  1904. 

400 


THE  RELIGIOUS  AND  ETHICAL  WORK  OF  LIBRARIES  401 

nature  and  scope  of  the  religious  and  ethical  work  now  being  done  by 
the  libraries  of  the  country,  letters  have  been  sent  to  about  forty  librarians 
of  typical  American  libraries,  large  and  small — chiefly  public  libraries. 
The  replies  received  form  the  main  portion  of  the  material  on  which 
this  paper  is  based. 

Although  no  systematic  effort  has  in  this  instance  been  made  to 
learn  how  well  stocked  are  the  religious  sections  of  public  libraries, 
yet  the  replies  to  the  letters  mentioned,  and  observation,  indicate  that 
much  attention  is  generally  given  to  this  subject.  Four  and  five-tenths 
per  cent,  of  the  books  in  the  circulating  department  of  the  Cleveland 
Public  Library  are  religious.  These  figures  may  be  regarded  as  fairly 
typical.  Librarians  generally  evince  the  keenest  desire  to  have  their 
libraries  well  stocked  with  the  latest  and  best  books  in  this  field,  the 
best  Bible  dictionaries  and  other  reference  books,  works  on  missions, 
the  Sunday  school,  and  the  Sunday-school  lessons,  commentaries,  lives 
of  Christ,  denominational  works,  theological  periodicals,  and  the  lead- 
ing denominational  journals. 

In  the  most  progressive  libraries  there  is  evidenced  a  catholicity  of 
spirit  in  purchases  and  a  genuine  desire  to  meet  the  needs  of  pastors, 
superintendents,  teachers,  and  religious  workers  and  learners  generally. 
These  purchases  are  of  course  not  confined  to  evangelical  works,  but 
include  also  Unitarian,  Jewish,  Roman  Catholic,  and  Christian  Science 
literature,  wherever  required  by  the  library's  constituency.  A  few 
examples  only  may  be  mentioned.  At  the  St.  Louis  Public  Library 
purchases  have  recently  been  made  of  a  list  of  several  hundred  volumes 
recommended  by  the  Evangelical  Alliance,  and  another  list  recommended 
by  the  representatives  of  the  American  Missions.  In  my  own  library 
one  hundred  dollars  were  recently  expended  in  purchasing  missionary 
books  requested  by  a  single  reader.  The  Evanston  Public  Library 
has  for  some  time  been  getting  all  the  books  required  for  the  courses 
of  the  American  Institute  of  Sacred  Literature.  The  librarian  of  the 
Springfield,  Mass.,  City  Library  is  endeavoring  to  work  up  a  plan  for 
systematic  co-operation  between  the  clergymen  of  that  city  and  the 
library  by  which  the  library  may  be  advised  more  fully  of  books  of 
religion  and  theology  most  desirable  for  purchase,  and  obtain  from 
those  most  competent  to  prepare  them  descriptive  notes  of  the  books 
for  use  in  bulletins  and  newspaper  lists. 

Libraries  generally  in  the  religious  sections  of  their  reference 
departments  supply  a  generous  equipment,  and  in  many  places  this 
material  has  extensive  use.  Reference  work  is  one  of  the  ways  in 
which,  with  least  possible  objection,  the  library  can  give  efficient  help 


402  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

to  religious  workers.  The  Carnegie  Library  of  Atlanta  has  placed  a 
room  at  the  disposal  of  organizations  of  Sunday-school  teachers  where 
meetings  are  held  and  reference  books  consulted.  The  Washington 
County  Free  Library,  Hagerstown,  Md.,  issues  lists  of  books  on  Lenten 
reading  which  are  popular  with  the  Lutheran,  German  Reformed,  and 
Dutch  Reformed  churches  as  well  as  with  Episcopalians.  The  Indian- 
apolis Public  Library  has  issued  in  pamphlet  form  for  its  readers  exten- 
sive lists  on  Easter,  on  Christmas,  and  on  missions.  The  Pratt  Free 
Library  of  Baltimore  has  since  1896  posted  lists  of  books  helpful  to 
teachers  using  the  International  Lessons;  the  Gloversville,N.  Y.,  Public 
Library  issues  lists  of  helps  on  both  the  International  and  the  Blakeslee 
lessons.  Several  librarians  report  that  they  have  been  asked  to  buy  all 
the  missionary  books  mentioned  in  such  handbooks  as  Via  Christij 
Lux  Christi,  Rex  Christus,  etc. 

The  custom  is  widely  prevalent  among  public  libraries  of  issuing  to 
public-school  teachers  special  cards  on  which  six  or  more  books  may  be 
drawn  for  school  use.  In  many  libraries  the  same  privilege  has  been 
extended  to  pastors  and  Sunday-school  teachers.  In  this  way  or  similar 
ways  increased  privileges  are  granted  to  religious  workers  in  need  of 
several  books  for  personal  study  or  class  use.  This,  by  the  way,  is  in 
effect  a  recognition  of  their  work  as  essentially  educational. 

My  investigations  have  brought  out  the  fact  that  a  small  but  increas- 
ing number  of  libraries  have  undertaken  the  work  of  supplying  Sunday 
schools  with  books  for  circulation  to  their  pupils.  In  some  cases  the 
public-library  books  no  doubt  supplement  the  Sunday-school  collection, 
but  more  often  they  probably  supplant  it,  and  the  Sunday-school  books 
are  either  discarded  or  chiefly  confined  to  reference  use.  For  several 
years  the  Berkshire  Athenaeum  of  Pittsfield,  Mass.,  has  been  success- 
fully co-operating  with  Sunday-school  libraries  in  furnishing  them  with 
books.  The  plan  involves  the  turning  over  to  the  public  library  by 
the  Simday  school  of  all  books  it  cares  to  spare,  the  giving  to  the  library 
each  year  of  the  money  heretofore  appropriated  for  new  books,  and  the 
provision  of  means  of  transportation.  In  return  the  library  sends  each 
week  books  chosen  by  the  Sunday-school  committee,  which  selects  for 
purchase  books  up  to  the  amount  of  its  annual  contribution.  The 
Buffalo  Public  Library  has  five  traveling  libraries  in  five  different 
Sunday  schools,  which  are  regularly  suppUed  with  books  selected  by 
the  public  librarian  and  the  committee  of  the  Sunday  school.  The 
circulation  statistics  are  kept  in  the  same  manner  as  with  other  school 
traveling  libraries.  Library  assistants  have  visited  the  schools  to  give 
instruction  in  keeping  the  circulation  records  and  in  methods  of  caring 


THE  RELIGIOUS  AND  ETHICAL  WORK  OF  LIBRARIES  403 

for  the  books.  The  plan  has  proved  moderately  successful.  Besides 
the  five  libraries  already  mentioned  as  being  in  Protestant  Sunday 
schools,  the  library  supplies  collections  to  two  Catholic  institutions  for 
use  in  connection  with  their  classes  in  religious  work.  In  St.  Louis 
several  Sunday  schools  depend  altogether  on  the  public  library  for  their 
supplies  of  books.  Their  pupils  and  teachers  select  books  from  finding 
lists.  The  books  are  sent  on  Saturday,  and  the  exchanged  books  are 
returned  to  the  library  on  Monday.  One  Sunday  school  which  has 
been  carrying  on  the  plan  for  three  or  four  years  pays  a  library  assistant 
to  come  to  the  school  regularly  each  week  to  distribute  and  charge 
the  books.  When  the  plan  was  first  tried,  collections  of  fifty  to  two 
hundred  books  were  sent  to  be  kept  for  the  season.  This  did  not  prove 
satisfactory,  as  the  chief  use  of  the  books  appeared  to  be  to  fill  the  book- 
cases and  thus  furnish  the  Sunday-school  rooms. 

The  Springfield,  Mass.,  City  Library  loans  collections  of  from 
twenty-five  to  one  hundred  books  to  seven  Sunday  schools,  to  be  returned 
in  six  months.  The  books  so  loaned  are  not  distinctly  religious  in 
character.  One  feature  of  the  plan  for  co-operation  between  this 
library  and  the  clergymen  of  the  city,  already  referred  to,  includes  the 
preparation  by  a  committee  of  ministers  and  laymen  of  a  list  of  chil- 
dren's books  in  the  library  that  are  particularly  suitable  for  Sunday 
schools.  The  compilation  of  this  list  is  now  in  progress,  and  if  it 
seems  likely  to  be  of  general  utility,  it  will  probably  be  printed.  In 
December,  1902,  the  librarian  of  the  Worcester  Public  Library  sent  a 
circular  letter  to  the  superintendents  of  all  Sunday  schools  in  that  city, 
inviting  them  to  secure  books  for  their  pupils  from  the  library  instead 
of  buying  them.  Thus  far  not  more  than  a  half-dozen  have  availed 
themselves  of  the  privilege.  But  Mr.  Green  adds  in  commenting  on 
this  fact:  "There  would  be  a  general  movement,  I  think,  in  favor  of 
having  books  sent  to  the  Sunday  schools  if  the  library  would  deliver 

the  books Could  churches  combine  and  hire  a  teamster,  or 

should  our  library  undertake  to  send  the  books,  it  is  very  evident  to 
me,  from  what  pastors  and  superintendents  tell  me,  that  a  large  number 
of  Sunday  schools  would  use  our  books."  The  head  of  the  Traveling 
Library  Department  of  the  New  York  Public  Library  states  that  it 
has  six  traveling  libraries  in  Sunday  schools,  and  that  more  would  be 
sent  but  for  the  fact  that  it  is  difficult  to  find  Sunday-school  librarians, 
who  will  give  careful  and  continuous  service.  Seven  churches  also 
have  large  collections  from  the  Department  which  are  kept  open  at  other 
times  than  Sunday.  A  few  clubs  at  church  houses  have  obtained  smaller 
collections,  including  books  on  missions,  studies  in  the  life  of  Jesus, 


404  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

etc.  Books  are  also  sent  to  the  workers  at  the  Salvation  Army  head- 
quarters and  to  the  Deaconesses'  Home.  The  librarian  in  charge  also 
states  that  at  the  vacation  school  of  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society  last 
summer  good  work  was  done  with  a  traveling  library,  the  books  for 
which  were  chosen  especially  for  their  ethical  and  religious  teaching. 

Turning  from  the  metropolis  to  similar  activities  in  the  country,  we 
find,  as  in  so  many  cases,  most  interesting  work  being  done  by  the 
Washington  County  Free  Library,  with  headquarters  at  Hagerstown, 
Md.  Miss  Titcomb  has  sent  to  the  Sunday  schools  conducted  by 
Dunkards,  many  of  whom  opposed  the  library  at  its  inception,  because  it 
contained  such  "awful  things  as  novels,"  traveling  libraries  of  about 
thirty-five  volumes  each,  made  up  of  fresh,  interesting  books,  chosen  to 
some  extent  because  of  their  ethical  value.  Eight  such  collections  have 
been  sent  thus  far  to  churches  having  no  pastors,  or  to  Sunday  schools 
not  connected  with  churches.  These  groups  remain  out  not  more  than 
six  months  and  not  less  than  four  months,  and  are  then  passed  on  to 
other  communities.  The  librarian  states  that  thus  far  these  libraries 
are  accomplishing  the  purpose  for  which  they  were  designed — interesting 
people  who  formerly  opposed  the  library  and  "incidentally  carrying 
'light  and  leading'  into  dark  places." 

Nearly  every  public  library  now  includes  among  its  resources  collec- 
tions of  pictures  which  are  used  on  bulletin  boards  and  in  other  ways 
as  illustrative  material.  These  as  well  as  books  are  frequently  loaned 
for  Sunday-school  use.  The  Evanston  Public  Library  has  recently 
secured  the  collection  of  mounted  pictures  published  by  Wilde  &  Co., 
suitable  for  Sunday-school  use,  and  loans  them  to  Sunday  schools.  The 
Springfield  City  Library  has  a  large  number  of  pictures  relating  to  the 
life  of  Christ  mounted  on  cardboard.  These  are  numbered  chronologi- 
cally according  to  the  scheme  of  Stevens  and  Burton's  Harmony  of  the 
Gospels,  and,  together  with  pictures  illustrating  Old  Testament  history 
and  pictures  of  the  Madonna,  are  loaned  to  Sunday-school  teachers. 
At  Hagerstown,  Md.,  pictures  of  religious  subjects  are  mounted  on  card- 
board, and  on  the  backs  are  placed  explanatory  matter  and  references 
to  literature  about  the  pictures  or  the  subjects  which  they  illustrate. 
Sometimes  a  short  poem  or  quotation  worth  remembering  is  added. 
Such  pictures  are  loaned  as  books.  Similar  picture  work  is  done  at 
Dayton,  0.,  Hartford,  Dover,  N.  H.,  Oak  Park,  111.,  Wilmington,  Del., 
and  doubtless  elsewhere. 

As  has  already  been  suggested,  the  development  of  the  work  of  sup- 
plying books  to  Sunday  schools  may  or  may  not  involve  the  giving  up 
of  the  local  Sunday-school  library.     In  some  places,  as  at  Gloversville, 


THE  RELIGIOUS  AND  ETHICAL  WORK  OF  LIBRARIES  405 

N.  Y.,  where  the  best  books  of  all  such  libraries  were  incorporated  in 
the  public  library  as  early  as  1883,  the  Sunday  school,  instead  of  com- 
peting with  the  public  library,  supports  it  heartily  and  seeks  from  it  the 
same  kind  of  service  that  the  Sunday  school  could  render,  only  of  more 
efl&cient  character.  My  own  thought  is  that  this  is  the  wisest  policy. 
The  Sunday-school  library,  if  retained  at  all,  could  be  conducted  solely 
as  a  reference  collection.  If  separate  Sunday-school  libraries  are  retained, 
as  they  are  and  will  be  in  many  places,  librarians  can  and  do  render 
valuable  service  in  helping  to  make  them  more  useful.  This  is  chiefly 
in  the  way  of  giving  advice  in  the  selection  of  books  and  giving  instruc- 
tion in  methods  of  administration.  Many  hbrarians  and  library 
assistants  are  called  upon  to  render  such  services  to  the  Sunday-school 
libraries  of  the  churches  with  which  they  are  connected,  and  are  often 
librarians  of  them.  For  such  book  selection  the  librarian  naturally 
uses  the  lists  which  are  his  chief  guides  in  choosing  books  for  his  chil- 
dren's room:  the  list  of  1,053  books  agreed  upon  by  the  Cleveland  PubUc 
Library  and  the  Carnegie  Library  of  Pittsburg,  Miss  Hewins's  A.  L.  A. 
list,  Sargent's  Reading  for  the  Young,  Miss  Moore's  list  compiled  for 
the  Iowa  State  Library  Commission,  and  the  school  lists  compiled  by  the 
Carnegie  Library  of  Pittsburg  and  the  Buffalo  Public  Library.  He 
would  also  suggest  the  use  of  lists  of  books  specifically  recommended  for 
Simday-school  libraries,  such  as  those  compiled  by  the  Church  Library 
Association  of  Cambridge  and  those  issued  by  the  Connecticut  Ladies' 
Commission  and  the  Ladies'  Commission  of  the  Unitarian  Church.  The 
last  two  bodies,  which  for  many  years  issued  annually  lists  of  approved 
books  that  were  widely  useful,  have  discontinued  the  practice,  on  the 
ground  that  this  work  is  now  being  done  by  the  public  libraries. 

Perhaps  one  of  the  most  useful,  even  though  indirect,  methods  of 
exerting  ethical  and  religious  influence  on  the  part  of  the  public  library 
is  the  work  of  the  children's  room,  which  now  has  a  place  in  almost 
every  public  library.  Probably  in  no  other  library  in  the  country  is 
better  work  being  done  with  children  than  at  the  Carnegie  Library  of 
Pittsburg,  where  there  is  maintained  a  school  for  the  training  of  children's 
librarians.  A  sentence  from  the  letter  received  from  that  hbrary  bear- 
ing on  this  point  is  worth  quoting:  "In  our  work  with  children  we  aim 
to  inculcate  the  highest  ethical  and  religious  ideals,  but  we  do  this  by 
suggestion  rather  than  by  definite  instruction." 

The  modern  library  movement  itself  is  in  its  infancy,  dating  in  America 
only  from  1876,  or  at  the  earliest  from  1850.  During  the  greater 
portion  of  this  time  the  energies  of  librarians  have  been  chiefly  devoted 
to  solving  technical  problems.     With  the  solution,  at  least  temporary, 


4o6  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

of  many  technical  difficulties,  it  has  been  possible  to  give  more  attention 
to  the  real  mission  of  books,  to  introduce  more  warmth,  color,  vitality, 
and  greater  humanity  into  library  work.  Librarians,  too,  have  been 
touched  with  the  humanizing  influences  now  pervading  all  educational 
and  religious  work.  Impelled  by  this  spirit,  they  have  found  opportuni- 
ties for  greater  usefulness  in  carrying  the  gospel  of  good  books  to  larger 
and  larger  numbers,  through  every  agency  possible.  Much,  if  not  most, 
of  the  work  described  can  best  be  done  by  libraries  in  response  to  demands; 
for,  as  has  been  said,  the  librarian,  from  the  nature  of  his  position,  is 
often  hampered  when  he  takes  the  initiative.  As  he  is  always  at  liberty 
to  meet  legitimate  demands,  the  initiative  should  in  all  doubtful  cases  be 
taken  by  religious  bodies. 


THE  UNION  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  LIBRARIES  WITH 
PUBLIC  LIBRARIES 

MISS  ELIZABETH  L.  FOOTE, 

NEW   YORK  PUBLIC  LIBRARY,   NEW  YORK   CITY 

My  thesis  is  the  negative  of  the  proposition  implied  in  my  subject. 
But  before  entering  upon  its  defense,  let  us  consider  under  what  circum- 
stances and  conditions  it  may  be  feasible  to  combine  a  Sunday-school 
library  with  the  public  library:  (i)  When  the  public  library  is  under 
good  management,  with  a  staff  of  capable  attendants  ready  and  willing 
to  co-operate  with  Sunday-school  teachers  as  well  as  with  day-school 
teachers  and  study  clubs,  and  to  give  to  every  individual  all  the  assistance 
possible;  this  co-operation  is  fully  discussed  in  another  paper,  and  I 
need  not  dwell  upon  it.  (2)  When  there  is  no  one  in  the  church  com- 
petent to  handle  the  Sunday-school  library  properly.  (3)  When  the 
community  is  not  so  large  that  the  public-library  staff  cannot  know  the 
readers  personally  and  individually,  so  that  real  assistance  may  be 
possible.  The  importance  of  this  may  not  be  obvious  to  all;  but  I  con- 
sider it  a  most  potent  factor  in  the  successful  work  of  any  library,  and 
the  principal  reason  why  I  do  not  advocate  the  union  of  the  Sunday- 
school  with  the  larger  public  library.  The  same  idea  influences  the 
school  authorities  to  prefer  libraries  in  the  class-rooms  for  at  least  a  part 
of  the  pupils'  reading.  (4)  Wlien  the  public  librar}'  can  afford  to  buy 
all  the  books  the  Sunday  school  may  want;  or,  if  it  cannot,  when  the 
several  churches  can  agree  on  the  desiderata  and  perhaps  contribute  the 
funds  for  their  purchase.  The  churches  may  wish  for  many  books  not 
suitable  to  be  purchased  with  public  money.  (5)  When  arrangements 
can  be  made  to  facilitate  the  use  of  the  public  library  by  those  members 
of  the  Sunday  school  who  cannot  conveniently  reach  the  public  library, 
and  who  have  been  depending  on  the  Sunday-school  library  for  their 
reading,  not  only  religious,  but  general.  This  can  be  done  in  two  ways: 
(a)  by  opening  the  public  library  for  a  few  hours  on  Sunday  immediately 
after  church  or  Sunday-school  hours;  (b)  by  sending  to  each  church 
every  Sunday  a  collection  of  books,  some  in  response  to  special  request, 
some  selected  by  the  librarian  for  distribution  there.  (6)  When  there 
is  no  objection  raised  on  the  part  of  the  non- religious  taxpayer  against  the 
use  of  public  funds,  a  public  servant,  or  institution  for  the  distribution 
of  sectarian  literature  or  for  religious  influence.  (7)  When  the  so-called 
public  library  is  free,  but  not  owned  or  controlled  by  the  public.    Its 

407 


4o8  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

management  may  then  do  what  it  pleases,  and  in  wise  hands  it  becomes 
a  powerful  influence. 

These  are  conditions  some  or  all  of  which  may  make  it  desirable  for 
certain  Sunday  schools  to  turn  over  their  libraries  to  the  public  libraries. 
I  might  add,  (8)  when  the  existing  Sunday-school  library  is  so  far 
below  the  standard  of  usefulness  that  the  school  has  lost  interest  in  it; 
but  in  this  case  I  prefer  to  say,  reorganize  the  library  within  the  school. 

Here  it  would  seem  fitting,  as  further  preface  to  the  defense  of  my 
thesis,  that  I  should  describe  the  sort  of  Sunday-school  library  I  am 
talking  about.  If  this  seems  for  the  moment  aside  from  my  topic,  I 
am  sure  the  seeming  digression  will  be  pardoned  for  its  importance  and 
its  real  bearing  on  the  whole.  The  ideal  Sunday-school  library  is  a  col- 
lection of  carefully  selected  books,  both  for  general  reading  and  for  illus- 
trating the  Sunday-school  lessons,  books  adapted  for  all  members  of  the 
school  (except  perhaps  the  primary  department),  not  one  of  which  is  not 
well  worthy  to  be  read  for  its  upUfting,  inspiring  influence.  Books  of 
history,  travel,  biography,  science,  arts,  and  fiction  all  contribute  to  the 
end  and  aim  of  the  Sunday  school — character-building — and  therefore 
have  their  place  in  the  Sunday-school  library.  But  no  collection  of 
books  is  a  Hbrary  without  a  librarian ;  and  by  that  word  I  do  not  mean  a 
machine.  The  selection  of  the  books  themselves  is  not  more  important 
than  the  selection  of  the  librarian.  The  most  devoted,  most  tactful, 
most  intelligent,  most  willing  worker  in  the  church,  possessed  at  the 
same  time  of  literary  taste  and  well-read,  is  the  one  for  this  place.  If 
this  person  is  the  public  librarian,  and  the  other  conditions  are  favorable 
as  above  described,  the  work  of  the  Sunday-school  library  may  be  safely 
intrusted  to  the  public  librarian.  The  ideal  Sunday-school  library  will 
also  have  suitable  quarters,  mechanical  devices,  and  clerical  methods 
to  facilitate  its  work.  Some  of  these  have  been  fully  described  in  various 
little  manuals  on  the  subject,  needing  to  be  no  more  than  mentioned 
here.  And  it  will  be  so  much  a  part  of  the  plans  of  teachers  and  superin- 
tendent that  no  one  will  think  for  a  moment  that  they  could  ever  get  on 
at  all  without  it.  Ideal  teachers  and  Sunday-school  methods  are  an 
integral  part  of  my  ideal  Sunday-school  library. 

First,  then,  although  some  Biblical  and  ethical  (not  religious)  work 
may  be  done  in  the  children's  public  library,  and  some  co-operation 
between  the  public  librarian  and  Sunday-school  teacher  is  possible  under 
certain  conditions — in  general,  church  and  state  are  permanently  separate 
in  this  country.  There  is  a  line,  difficult  to  draw,  but  nevertheless 
existing,  between  secular  and  religious.  The  public  schools  are  sup- 
posed to  give  secular  education,  and  the  public  libraries  to  co-operate 


SUNDAY-SCHOOL  AND  PUBLIC  LIBRARIES  409 

with  them.  To  the  church  is  assigned  the  responsibiUty  for  reUgious 
education.  It  is  a  modern  idea  among  Ubrarians  that  in  large  com- 
munities no  one  hbrary  can  meet  all  demands,  and  the  problem  is  to  be 
solved  by  specialization.  In  New  York  city,  for  example,  the  public 
library  leaves  Columbia  University  to  supply  the  wants  of  the  student 
in  educational  history  and  science,  and  the  theological  seminaries  to 
specialize  in  religion,  while  the  public  library  caters  to  the  genealogist, 
the  sociologist,  or  the  student  of  local  history.  So  in  the  more  popular 
circulating  libraries  it  is  impossible  for  one  to  supply  all  the  varied  wants 
of  the  many  readers,  and  the  religious  element  is  thrown  back  upon  the 
churches.  Each  church  will  naturally  wish  to  supply  the  literature 
peculiar  to  its  denomination,  in  history,  biography,  and  theology.  The 
ideal  library  is  not  confined  to  religion,  but  covers  in  some  measure  all 
classes.  This  is  expedient  for  two  reasons.  First,  all  these  various 
classes  are  drawn  upon  in  the  Sunday-school  library  for  their  religious 
influence.  Second,  if  the  Sunday-school  library  were  restricted  to  the 
religious  books  not  obtainable  at  the  public  library,  it  would  not  be 
popular.  The  religious  literature  judiciously  mixed  with  other  subjects 
and  tactfully  introduced  by  the  skilful  librarian  will  be  read  when,  served 
up  by  itself,  it  would  be  refused.  The  Sunday-school  library  must  be 
attractive  to  all,  not  merely  to  the  few  serious  students.  The  librarian 
is  a  fisher  of  souls  and  must  have  good  bait. 

My  first  point,  then,  is  that,  as  the  public  library  cannot  usually 
afford  all  the  books  it  is  called  upon  to  furnish,  and  as  secular  and 
religious  are  so  fundamentally  separate  in  our  public  ideas,  the  church 
must  furnish  the  literature  needed  in  the  religious  development  and 
education  of  its  people. 

The  second  is  briefly  stated,  but  not  to  be  despised.  The  attractive 
library  in  the  Sunday  school  is  itself  a  bait  for  the  school,  and  will  draw 
many  persons  who  might  not  otherwise  come  under  religious  influence 
at  all.  Either  they  are  so  situated  as  not  to  be  able  to  use  the  pubHc 
library,  or,  omnivorous  readers,  the  public  library  cannot  supply  all 
their  demands.  For  one  reason  or  another  they  find  the  Sunday-school 
library  an  attraction.  Here  may  be  included  the  class  of  users  referred 
to  above — farmers'  families,  people  who  come  long  distances  to  town  on 
Sunday  and  depend  upon  the  Sunday-school  library  for  their  general 
reading.  As  we  mentioned,  the  public  library  might  reach  these  people, 
and  does  somewhat  by  depositing  small  traveling  libraries  with  the  Sun- 
day school. 

Third,  modern  Sunday-school  methods  of  graded  courses,  more 
thoughtful  study  of  the  Bible,  etc.,  call  for  libraries  for  reference  and 


4IO  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

for  collateral  reading.  The  modern  method  of  study  is  not  to  confine 
one's  education  in  any  line  to  a  single  book,  but  to  delve  among  many 
for  their  hidden  treasures;  so  the  Sunday  school  should  provide  gener- 
ously its  reference  Hbrary  of  notes  and  commentaries  for  the  use  of  teach- 
ers and  scholars  in  the  Sunday-school  lessons  and  for  collateral  reading. 
In  this  line  many  books  on  many  subjects  w^ill  have  their  part  to  play  in 
the  hands  of  the  skilful  librarian;  at  first  perhaps  as  drawing-cards  for 
the  indifferent  reader,  and  yet  not  without  their  own  useful  lesson  in 
some  line.  Natural  science,  always  attractive  to  the  children,  is  an 
education  in  the  thoughts  of  God,  and  history  ever  has  its  bearing  on 
the  development  of  the  Kingdom;  so  all  these  subjects  should  be  con- 
nected by  the  teachers  with  the  lessons  of  the  day.  The  Hbrarian  may 
prepare  and  have  ready  many  entertaining  books,  which  shall  further 
impress  these  lessons  upon  youthful  minds. 

Fourth,  it  is  said  in  defense  of  the  class-room  libraries  in  the  public 
schools  that  the  teacher,  knowing  her  pupils,  can  guide  their  reading  by 
placing  in  their  hands  the  right  book  at  just  the  right  time,  while  the 
public  hbrarian,  having  a  much  larger  constituency,  is  not  able  to  do 
this  with  more  than  a  very  few.  I  am  of  those  who  attach  importance 
to  the  formation  in  childhood  of  the  library  habit  (as  we  call  it),  and 
believe  that  to  this  end  public-school  teachers  should  send  children  to  the 
public  library.  Nevertheless,  I  appreciate  the  value  of  the  class-room 
library  to  the  teacher  who  is  conscientiously  interested  in  her  pupils' 
reading,  for  this  is  the  very  principle  that  has  made  the  Sunday-school 
library  my  hobby.  And  I  may  as  well  say  that  I  come  now  to  the  kernel 
of  my  nut.  All  that  I  have  said  is  but  the  preUminary  cracking  of  the 
shell;  for  when  all  is  said,  the  degree  of  success  in  training  the  youthful 
mind  is,  as  in  so  many  other  phases  of  education,  personal  work.  Every 
children's  librarian  knows  this;  every  Sunday-school  teacher  knows  it; 
and  it  is  here  that  the  Sunday-school  Hbrarian  has  the  opportunity 
coveted  by  the  public  librarian.  The  pubhc  hbrarian  may  have  all  the 
influence  and  interest  in  the  world;  but  if  his  readers  number  hundreds 
of  thousands,  how  many  of  them  may  he  know  personally,  and  remember 
when  he  is  buying  or  selecting  books  ?  In  the  Chatham  Square  branch  of 
the  New  York  Public  Library  some  seven  thousand  children  are  regular 
borrowers,  to  say  nothing  of  several  thousand  adults.  More  than  one 
thousand  books  are  exchanged  daily.  The  hbrarian  may  wish  to  help 
every  Sunday-school  teacher  in  her  community  and  each  individual 
scholar,  but  she  is  human  and  finite.  Supposing  all  these  seven  thou- 
sand children  to  be  Sunday-school  pupils  somewhere,  it  is  reasonable  to 
suppose  that  fifty  or  one  hundred  different  schools  might  be  represented, 


SUNDAY-SCHOOL  AND  PUBLIC  LIBRARIES  411 

and  as  many  different  ideal  Sunday-school  librarians  could  be  doing 
for  these  children  what  the  public-school  librarians  cannot  do.  The 
Sunday-school  librarian  will  seldom  have  a  larger  constituency  than 
she  will  know  individually;  and  this,  my  ideal  librarian,  is  one  in 
whom  each  teacher  will  confide  her  perplexities,  anxieties,  and  ambi- 
tions for  each  of  her  class,  and  the  librarian  knows  them  by  sight,  by 
name,  by  individuality.  She  greets  each  in  turn  as  he  brings  in  his 
book  at  the  beginning  of  school  (the  librarian  should  know  every 
reader,  if  possible,  coming  into  personal  touch  with  the  pupils),  and 
of  one  or  another  asks  pleasantly:  "How  was  that?  Shall  I  pick  you 
out  another?"  Often  the  request  to  "pick  out  a  good  book"  is  volun- 
tary with  the  child.  Some  even  intrust  their  constant  selection  to  her 
judgment;  others  she  invites  in  to  look  over  the  books  and  fill  up  their 
call-cards  with  numbers;  and  how  easily  she  lays  one  and  another  before 
them!  Then,  too,  the  teacher  tells  her  of  critical  moments  in  the  chil- 
dren's lives,  or  perhaps  she  watches  for  them.  A  girl  whom  she  has 
occasionally  won  to  be  confidential  suddenly  asks:  "Miss  A.,  how  can  a 
girl  be  attractive  if  she  isn't  pretty?"  And  when  she  goes  home  she 
carries  Winsome  Womanhood.  She  has  watched  a  growing  intimacy 
between  two  growing  youths,  and  thought  of  the  possible  influence  there. 
Hugh  Black's  Friendship  is  added  to  her  library,  and  finds  its  way  to 
one  of  them.  "My  Willy  is  thinking  seriously  upon  religious  things," 
says  a  mother  to  her;  "he  is  only  twelve;  do  you  suppose  you  can  help 
him  ?"  She  nods  brightly,  and  Willy  gets  Baxter^ s  Second  Innings  that 
day.  A  boy  whom  she  has  guided  from  Henty  to  Butterworth,  taking 
her  advice  for  his  selections  from  the  public  library,  is  ready  to  follow 
Historic  Boys  with  Scudder's  Washington  and  Schurz's  Lincoln,  and 
later  take  for  a  change  Wagner's  Youth,  and  another  day  Moxom's  Aim 
of  Life,  and  that  boy  will  come  to  enjoy  the  lives  of  religious  leaders, 
as  well  as  of  great  men  in  the  world's  history.  A  taste  once  cultivated 
for  biography  leads  very  readily  to  deeper  religious  reading. 

But  it  takes  time  to  multiply  examples,  and  we  all  know  the  number- 
less treasures  of  our  shelves,  which  await  introduction  to  the  needy  ones. 
My  plea  is,  after  all,  for  the  personal  element,  and  that  among  a  number 
not  too  many  for  one  to  be  useful  to,  and  also  for  the  close  touch  between 
teacher  and  librarian,  about  which  I  have  said  quite  too  little.  The 
secret  of  it  all  is  an  appreciation  on  the  part  of  Sunday-school  workers 
of  the  part  to  be  played  in  religious  education  by  the  Sunday-school 
librarian,  and  that  this  officer  must  be  (as  I  said  before)  the  most  conse- 
crated, the  most  tactful,  the  most  intelligent,  the  most  willing  worker  in 
the  church.     I  know  you  will  say  that  I  plead  from  my  standpoint  of  a 


412  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

librarian;  but  is  there  any  other  influence  so  potent  in  the  lives  of  the 
people  today  as  the  books  they  read  ?  Is  there  any  way  of  sending  the 
thought  of  the  lesson  home  with  the  pupil  better  than  by  putting  into  his 
hand  the  book  which  shall  carry  it  on  ?  It  is  a  work  of  which  we  see 
the  results  but  slowly,  and  yet  results  are  inevitable.  There  is  the  small 
expense  of  a  few  hundred  volumes,  with  a  few  dollars  occasionally  to 
carry  on  the  work  as  it  should  be;  and  the  small  expense  is  more  than 
justified.  The  great  problem  is  to  find  the  ideal  librarian,  but  I  beheve 
it  is  a  problem  well  worth  the  thoughtful  consideration  of  every  pastor 
and  Sunday-school  superintendent. 

Manuals  and  book-lists  for  Sunday-school  librarians:  (i)  Dunning,  The  Sunday 
School  Library  (Pilgrim  Press,  Boston,  1884).  (2)  Foote,  The  Librarian  of  the 
Sunday  School  (Eaton  &  Mains,  New  York,  1897,  35  cents).  (3)  "Strengthening 
the  Sunday  School  Library  "  {Sunday  School  Times,  1903,  10  cents).  Also  chapters 
on  the  library  in  recent  books  on  Sunday-school  work.  Denominational  pubUshing 
houses  have  various  forms  of  records  for  the  libraries  as  well  as  Hsts  of  books. 
Besides  these,  the  following  are  among  the  most  useful  Hsts:  (4)  American  Unitarian 
Association,  Ladies'  Commission,  "Annual  Lists  of  Good  Books  for  Sunday  School 
Libraries"  (Boston).  (5)  Church  Library  Association,  Cambridge,  Mass.,  Cata- 
logue and  Annual  Lists.  (6)  Emmanuel  Baptist  Church,  Albany,  N.  Y.,  "Cata- 
logue of  the  Sunday  School  Library  "  (1901,  15  cents;  address  Miss  M.  T.  Wheeler, 
State  Library,  Albany,  N.  Y.). 


RELIGIOUS    AND    ETHICAL   WORK    POSSIBLE    IN    THE 

CHILDREN'S  SECTIONS  OF  THE  PUBLIC  LIBRARY 

MISS  ELECTRA  C.  DOREN, 

LIBRARIAN   PUBLIC   LIBRARY,   DAYTON,   OHIO 

First,  may  I  express  my  pleasure  and  satisfaction  in  having  the  stimu- 
lus of  the  present  occasion  for  thinking  out  the  individual  work  of  my 
own  Library  along  with,  and  in  relation  to,  the  larger  lines  of  action 
which  this  Association  represents,  and  to  thank  the  projectors  of  it  for 
the  opportunity  thus  afforded  to  hitch  the  Library  wagon  to  a  star  ?  By 
the  declaration  of  your  purposes  and  the  invitation  to  co-operate  in  them 
the  faint  promptings  of  an  awakening  heart  are  reinforced,  and  obscure 
cogitations  and  half-formed  purposes  are  drawn  to  light  by  the  attrac- 
tion of  an  objective  aim.  Nay  more,  even  to  speak  of  possible  good 
lays  upon  one  some  obUgation  to  realize  it!  I  shall  take  leave,  then, 
to  discuss  the  possibility  suggested  by  the  above  title,  from  the  ground 
of  the  Library  which  I  serve,  believing  that  in  size,  cHentele,  and  local 
conditions  it  is  sufficiently  typical  to  serve  the  purpose  at  least  of  a  lay 
figure  in  experiments.  Moreover  this  individual  treatment  is  the 
pledge  of  a  certain  practical  sincerity.  That  which  is  here  set  forth  is 
that  which  we  propose  to  accomplish  in  due  season  if  we  faint  not. 

As  for  the  type  of  Public  Library  upon  which  the  experiment  will  be 
tried,  picture  to  yourselves  a  collection  of  sixty  thousand  volumes,  one- 
sixth  of  which  is  composed  of  books  for  children,  to  be  drawn  by  them 
either  through  the  children's  room  at  the  main  Library,  or  through 
some  one  of  the  deposit  stations,  or  through  the  class-room  libraries 
furnished  to  the  teachers.  There  are  in  the  city  ninety-two  churches, 
a  proportion  of  which  still  retain  Sunday-school  libraries  of  varying  types. 
The  relation  sustained  to  these  by  the  Public  Library  has  been  occa- 
sional and  personal  rather  than  institutional.  From  personal  rather 
than  ofl&cial  acquaintanceship  the  librarian  has  been  sought  for  advice 
in  book  selection;  for  inspection  of  libraries;  for  replacing  and  repair 
work;  in  one  instance,  to  recommend  a  system  of  arrangement  (never 
adopted);  and,  in  another,  to  abolish  altogether  a  library  of  Sunday- 
school  books  of  the  type  popular  with  publishers  between  the  years  1850- 
1880.  Needless  to  say  that  such  accidental  opportunities  were  enjoyed 
to  the  full  extent.  Recently,  however,  we  have  come  into  fresh  touch 
with  the  Sunday  schools  upon  lines  of  secular  literature  through  the 

413 


414  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

loan  of  graded  and  selected  book-lists,  attractively  presented  as  illumi- 
nated posters.  These  have  been  used  by  Sunday-school  teachers  as 
suggestions  for  good  books  to  read  or  buy. 

Requests  for  the  purchase  of  teachers'  Bible  helps,  books  on  mission- 
topics  or  religious  subjects,  are  almost  invariably  granted  by  the  Library 
Board.  The  Library  freely  extends  to  any  Y.  M.  C.  A.  teacher,  leader 
of  a  boys'  club,  settlement  or  Sunday-school  worker,  or  mission-study 
club  the  same  privileges  which  are  accorded  to  the  public-school  teacher, 
namely,  ten  books  at  a  time  for  twenty-eight  days.  In  addition,  any 
minister,  Sunday-school  teacher,  or  church  worker  may  have  a  special 
student's  card  v/hich  entitles  him  to  six  books  at  one  time.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  Library  has  received  support,  in  various  lines  of  its  own  work, 
from  the  clergy  and  churches.  One  Bible  class  has  furnished  volunteer 
readers  and  visitors  for  carrying  on  two  home  libraries.  The  same  Bible 
class  has  presented  the  Library  with  the  money  to  buy  books  to  be  used 
in  home  library  work  among  the  neglected  classes  of  children.  The 
churches  have  responded  faithfully  in  making  such  announcements  as 
the  one  from  the  librarian  calling  for  volunteers  to  read  to  the  blind,  or 
to  accompany  them  to  the  weekly  reading  given  for  them  at  the  main 
Library;  and,  without  special  request,  the  ministers  of  various  denomina- 
tions have  sustained  by  public  addresses  from  the  pulpit  the  efforts  to 
establish  neighborhood  libraries  for  supplanting  the  influences  of  the 
cheap  and  pernicious  literature  among  children. 

Such  at  present  are  the  agencies  and  exchanges  between  the  Public 
Library  and  the  religious  bodies  of  the  city.  They  attest  the  existence 
of  a  harmonious  and  cordial  working  spirit,  a  good  atmosphere  for  the 
development  of  more  definite  relations.  But  they  are  external  connec- 
tions and  relate  only  incidentally  or  indirectly  to  the  child  reader.  They 
have  no  bearing  whatever  upon  his  behalf  .along  the  lines  of  Biblical, 
ethical,  or  religious  work  within  the  Library  itself. 

What,  then,  from  the  Library  side  is  the  duty  in  these  respects?  Is 
it  not  to  establish  a  center  from  which  shall  emanate,  so  far  as  the  book- 
world  goes,  such  influences  as  shall  help  to  form  as  it  were  a  matrix  for 
the  after-faith  of  the  child  ?  Shall  it  not  be  to  help  in  creating  an  atmos- 
phere which  shall  hold  in  solution  nutrients  for  the  soul,  from  which  may 
be  absorbed  strength,  pure  thoughts,  and  high  ideals  ?  Is  it  not  to  give 
out  in  significant  sequences  the  stories  of  the  Bible,  of  saint,  of  hero, 
and  of  martyr,  and,  in  unmistakable  outlines,  to  limn  forth  the  charac- 
teristics of  noble  actions — thus  to  afford  to  the  idealistic  temperament 
and  the  religious  nature  the  support  of  facts,  and  through  familiarity 
with  them  to  make  of  Bible  teaching  and  Bible  characters  substantial, 


CHILDREN'S  SECTIONS  OF  THE  PUBLIC  LIBRARY       415 

effectual  presences?  As  much  as  this  is  already  conceded  to  secular 
literature  and  secular  subjects.  Shall  the  boasted  catholicity  of  the 
Public  Library  halt  at  this  point,  and  continue  that  "conspiracy  of 
silence"  maintained  so  long  by  our  public  schools  concerning  Biblical 
and  religious  subjects — a  position  so  long  and  carefully  maintained 
that  what  at  first  was  meant  to  conserve  individual  rights  of  hberty  of 
conscience  has  resulted  in  lasting  loss  to  many  and  in  practical  exclusion 
of  knowledge  of  the  Bible.  A  false  idealism,  woful  ignorance,  and 
a  distinct  lessening  of  the  intellectual  power  and  moral  support  which 
come  from  sane  and  sturdy  notions  about  religion  are  the  penalty  paid 
for  a  false  liberty.  "You  Americans  are  as  a  rule  a  very  thoroughly 
well-read  people  upon  nearly  everything  under  the  sun;  but  of  the  Bible 
even  very  well-educated  people  seem  to  know  nothing,  not  even  enough 
to  follow  understandingly  the  allusions  to  it,"  is  the  way  in  which  it  was 
put  to  me  a  few  weeks  ago  by  a  distinguished  Englishman. 

As  I  recall  my  own  childhood,  the  Bible-Sunday  world — represented 
by  the  Sunday  school,  and  the  common  real  world — represented  by  the 
week-day  school,  were  two  distinct  and  separate  existences,  from  the 
clothes  we  wore  and  the  things  we  ate  to  the  books  we  read,  the  facts 
we  learned,  and  the  things  we  thought  about  and  did.  I  might  live 
peacefully  in  the  one  world  or  in  the  other,  but  I  never  dreamed  that 
they  belonged  together.  The  lessons  in  the  one  did  not  relate  to,  or 
connect,  the  same  objective  facts.  My  Sunday-school  teacher  never 
referred  to  any  of  the  things  I  learned  about  in  the  week-day  school, 
and  vice  versa  the  other  teacher  never  alluded  to  anything  the  Sunday- 
school  teacher  talked  about.  Though  my  teachers  in  both  schools 
were  men  and  women  of  admirable  character,  they  were  not  always  of 
equal  education ;  and  yet  aside  from  this  was  the  fact  that  neither  ever 
betrayed  any  knowledge  of  that  which  the  other  taught,  and  was  appar- 
ently unconscious  of  any  connections  whatever  between  them.  This 
further  served  to  hold  the  two  worlds  apart  and  influenced  me  to  different 
standards  for  each.  When  I  grew  up  and  had  a  class  in  Sunday  school 
myself,  I  found  that  the  same  gulf  existed  for  my  pupils;  and  I  have 
never  been  able  to  bridge  it  for  myself  or  for  them. 

It  is  just  at  this  place  that  I  believe  the  Public  library  has  a  work 
to  do.  It  is  that  of  placing  in  juxtaposition  before  the  child's  objective 
vision  the  facts  sacred  and  the  facts  secular  (so  called) ;  and  it  should  be 
done,  not  only  by  having  suitable  books  for  children  upon  the  shelves, 
but  by  so  bringing  them  out,  weaving  them  together  in  purpose,  and 
drawing  attention  to  them  with  other  material,  that  they  shall  appear 
as  coexisting  facts  present  to  each  other  and  of  like  common  human 


4i6  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

interest.  Thus  the  background  will  be  furnished,  the  stage  prepared 
for  the  action  of  serious  teaching  of  religious  and  ethical  principles, 
which  it  will  ever  be  the  true  function  of  church  and  home  to  inculcate 
by  direct  instruction.  The  Library  will  remain  most  truly  helpful  as  a 
silent  but  confirming  testimony. 

The  means  for  undertaking  our  part  as  librarians  are  already  at 
hand  in  tried  and  accepted  methods  of  library  work  for  children.  The 
instruments  are  the  books  themselves  and  pictures.  The  methods 
("  instrumentalities "  is  perhaps  the  better  word)  for  getting  the  books 
read  are  the  story  and  reading  hours,  the  picture  bulletin,  and  selected 
book-list.  By  means  of  the  first-mentioned  agencies  we  seek  through 
the  personality  of  a  good  story-teller  or  reader  to  attract  children  to 
books,  to  acquaint  them  with  myth,  fairy-tale,  and  hero;  to  enrich  the 
imagination;  to  give  them  standards;  to  enlarge  their  information;  to 
lead  them  to  enjoy  reading  now;  and  to  furnish  their  minds  with  an 
acquaintanceship  with  those  allusions  which  are  so  large  a  part  of  the 
charm  of  reading  in  later  years.  The  story  hour  is  for  the  little  chil- 
dren, the  reading  hour  for  the  older  ones;  and  he  who  would  serve  in 
either  of  them  acceptably  must  be  endowed  with  special  gifts.  Books 
on  every  variety  of  subject — history,  travel,  biography,  animal  stories, 
poetry,  etc. — are  employed  by  the  reader  for  attracting  attention  from 
too  much  fiction,  and  for  starting  the  young  reader  with  subjects  or 
authors  not  at  first  attractive  to  him.  The  picture  bulletin  is  for  all 
ages.  It  is  a  device  for  bringing  out  the  material  in  the  library  upon 
any  subject  of  interest,  such  as  special  holidays,  heroes,  countries,  his- 
toric characters,  authors  and  their  works  —  "how  to  hunt  and  trap," 
"how  to  make  and  do  things,"  the  various  industries,  etc.  It  is  com- 
posed of  pictures  illustrating  the  subject  and  a  selected  list  of  the  best 
books.  The  books  are  usually  placed  side  by  side  with  the  bulletin 
which,  while  giving  information  on  the  subject  by  its  illustrations  and 
arrangement,  also  advertises  the  books.  The  book-list  is  simply  for 
suggestion  to  the  child  who  is  at  a  loss  among  a  world  of  books  for  some- 
thing "good  to  read."    His  loss  is  our  opportunity. 

At  this  point  of  similarity  in  instrument  and  method  we  leave  the 
known  ground  of  previous  experiences  and  blaze  out  our  own  trail 
through  material  which  must  be  freshly  adapted.  The  task  will  not 
be  a  simple  one  from  the  fact  that  this  is  no  mere  popularization  of  ideas 
or  cultivation  of  imaginative  qualities  in  the  child,  as  in  the  case  of 
ordinary  myth-  and  story-telling.  It  is  the  serious  work  of  selecting 
facts  suited  to  the  child's  comprehension  and  the  exclusion  of  mis- 
leading ways  of  stating  facts.     Fortunately  it  is  not  required  of  me  to 


CHILDREN'S  SECTIONS  OF  THE  PUBLIC  LIBRARY        417 

do  more  in  this  paper  than  to  point  out  possibihties  and  show  where 
hands  may  be  joined  in  carrying  them  out.  We  shall  find  in  every 
Public  Library  Children's  Room  at  least  three  distinct  eras  of  child-life 
represented  among  all  classes.  They  are  eras  directly  influencing  their 
mental  attitude  toward  the  notions  presented  to  them.  There  are  the 
httle  children  of  from  four  to  nine  years;  the  older  children  of  from  nine 
to  twelve;  and  the  boys  and  girls  of  twelve  to  sLxteen.  Children  are  all 
alike  in  being  influenced  by  that  which  is  obviously  attractive,  and  each 
child  will  seize  almost  instantly  upon  what  is  interesting  to  himself. 
Once  settled  in  his  ideas  as  to  what  he  likes  or  dislikes,  you  will  scarcely 
be  able  to  change  him  until  in  the  course  of  his  development  his  own 
nature  takes  on  a  different  mood.  Your  success  therefore  depends  upon 
what  you  present  to  him  first.  In  the  selection  of  his  reading,  it  has  as 
a  rule  to  be  with  him  love  at  first  sight  or  not  at  all.  It  is  this  that 
makes  of  children's  library  work  an  interesting  game.  The  game  is  to 
find  out  just  what  does  attract  each  age.  Reading  with  a  great  number 
of  different  children  is  almost  the  only  way  to  find  out  how  to  use  the 
books  for  any  of  them. 

The  aim  of  our  selected  book-lists  is  not  so  much  symmetry  or  ful- 
ness of  exposition  of  a  given  subject — that  would  be  to  children  too 
technical  and  artificial.  Nor  is  it  to  give  expression  to  our  own  ideas  of 
what  should  be  read  or  what  would  be  interesting  to  them — that  would 
be  an  imposition  of  the  maturer  personality,  and  it  is  just  here  that  we 
elders  are  greatly  in  the  way  of  childhood  and  practically  burdensome. 
The  most  fruitful  suggestion  comes  from  well-placed  surroundings,  from 
accidental,  impersonal  influences.  It  is  here  that  the  Public  Library 
may  quietly  act.  There  is  no  reason  why  the  stories  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, the  parables  of  Christ,  the  life  and  journeys  of  Paul,  may  not  be 
told  at  the  library  story  hour.  Indeed,  there  are  so  few  good  books  of 
Bible  stories  for  the  children  that  it  will  have  to  be  done.  The  lives 
of  good  men,  saints  of  the  early  church  and  missionaries  of  the  modern, 
are  rich  material,  and  may  furnish  many  a  tale  of  inspiration  and 
wonder,  even  of  adventure.  All  depends  on  the  story-teller  and  the 
reader.  Church  history  would  hardly  be  safe  ground  to  tread  upon, 
or  even  perhaps  the  saints'  days,  and  festivals  or  fasts  of  the  church. 
But  there  is  no  reason  why  Bible  lands  and  peoples  and  their  customs 
may  not  be  illustrated  through  the  picture  bulletin,  or  why  the  lands 
and  peoples  where  the  Bible  has  been  carried  by  missionaries  may  not 
make  matter  of  great  interest  as  well  as  a  point  of  departure  for  book- 
lists. All  this  will  require  thought  and  study  for  selection,  with  time 
to  carry  out  and  wisdom  to  relate  helpfully  to  the  work  in  local  churches. 


4i8  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

Public  institutions  are  formed  by  use;  demands  must  be  made  upon 
the  Library  that  it  may  do  its  fullest  work. 

The  attitude  of  the  Public  Library  is  that  of  a  disinterested  helper. 
Whatever  is  asked  of  it  must  be  of  general  public  benefit — a  favor 
which  can  be  impartially  bestowed  upon  all  sects  alike.  It  may  not 
undertake  instruction,  but  influence.  It  must  be  free  of  even  the  sus- 
picion of  bias.  It  may  furnish  facts,  but  it  shall  not  force  conclusions. 
Much  practical  good  may  come  of  co-operation  between  the  mem- 
bers of  this  Association  and  librarians.  The  publication  of  annotated 
selected  lists  of  books  for  the  three  ages  of  childhood  and  youth,  sug- 
gestions of  subjects  for  picture  bulletins  and  story  hours  as  they  have 
been  developed  through  the  experiences  of  library  and  Sunday-school 
workers  would  be  a  first  step  and  a  long  one  in  the  direction  of  Biblical, 
ethical,  and  reHgious  work  for  children  in  public  libraries. 

As  the  things  we  have  described  come  to  pass,  they  will  assert  to 
children  that  the  Bible,  the  religious  and  ethical  side  of  life,  are  not 
the  prime  consideration  of  one  institution  alone,  but  belong  also  to  the 
big  "secular"  world  which  above  everything  it  is  the  desire  of  all  sorts 
and  conditions  of  childhood  to  explore. 


CO-OPERATION   BETWEEN   THE   SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

TEACHER  AND  THE  PUBLIC  LIBRARY 

JAMES  H.  CANFIELD, 

LIBRARIAN   COLUMBIA   UNIVERSITY,   NEW   YORK  CITV 

The  place  and  value  of  the  Sunday  school  have  changed  greatly 
with  passing  years.  Formal  and  regular  religious  instruction  of  the 
young  on  Sundays  began  long  enough  ago,  certainly  as  early  as  the 
days  of  Cardinal  Borromeo  (say  1550),  though  the  modem  movement 
as  certainly  dates  from  Robert  Raikes,  in  1780.  Originally  the  work 
took  the  place  of  the  more  elementary  lines  now  followed  by  the 
public  school,  and  was  devised  quite  as  much  to  keep  vicious  children 
off  the  streets  as  to  give  them  definite  moral  or  religious  instruction. 
lUiterates,  both  children  and  adults,  were  taught  to  read  and  spell; 
and  in  some  of  the  early  Sunday  schools  in  this  country  the  principles 
of  elementary  arithmetic  were  also  taught.  Schools  of  this  character 
and  with  this  general  purpose  were  organized  in  this  country  at  least 
as  early  as  1786.  The  teachers  were  often,  perhaps  usually,  paid; 
and  the  texts  used  were  the  spelling-book,  the  primer,  the  hymn- 
book,  and  the  Bible.  In  1791,  when  the  first  Sunday  School  Society 
(the  forerunner  of  the  Sunday  School  Union)  was  organized,  in 
Philadelphia,  it  was  stated  that  the  schools  under  its  control  should 
confine  their  instruction  to  "reading  and  writing  from  the  Bible,  and 
such  other  moral  and  religious  books  as  the  Society  may  from  time  to 
time  direct."  One  of  the  first  labors  of  this  Society  was  to  prepare 
books  for  these  schools — at  first  simply  the  primers,  spelling-books,  and 
Testaments.  At  that  time,  however,  religious  literature  for  the  young 
was  practically  unknown.  Even  the  sermons  of  the  day  were  rarely 
modified  to  reach  and  touch  youthful  minds.  Good  authorities  doubt 
whether  so  many  as  twenty  books  suitable  for  those  still  in  their  minority 
could  be  found  in  the  entire  country — even  though  some  of  the  well- 
known  standards,  such  as  Pilgrim'' s  Progress,  were  included  in  the  list. 

Somewhat  earlier  than  the  movement  just  described,  as  well  as 
somewhat  later,  the  churches  undertook  to  make  use  of  the  hour  of 
intermission  which  came  between  the  two  daily  services,  by  calling  the 
children  together  and  giving  them  definite  instruction  in  the  Scriptures 
and  in  the  several  Catechisms.  Even  in  these  schools,  however,  the 
elementary  secular  instruction  referred  to  was  often  given.  It  was  not 
until  early  in  the  ninteenth  century  that  there  was  a  general  reaction 

419 


420  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

to  volunteer  teachers  and  to  religious  instruction  only — though  in  some 
sections  of  this  country,  as  well  as  in  other  countries,  the  secular  work 
was  continued  wherever  necessary.  I  have  a  very  definite  picture  of 
my  own  grandmother,  when  quite  advanced  in  years,  patiently  teaching 
one  or  two  ilhterates  to  spell  and  to  read,  in  the  Sunday  school  of  an 
Episcopal  church  in  a  little  country  village  in  Vermont  where  she  was 
then  residing;  and  as  late  as  1837  one  object  of  the  Sunday  School 
Society  of  Ireland  was  "to  supply  spelling-books  and  copies  of  the 
Sacred  Scriptures"  to  the  various  Sunday  schools  of  the  island.  In 
fact,  most  of  the  early  work  was  the  teaching  of  reading  and  morality, 
and  the  Sunday  school  was  a  sort  of  mission  school  among  the  unfor- 
tunate, the  vicious,  and  the  illiterate.  Others  did  not  attend,  and  it 
was  only  by  very  definite  effort  that  the  change  to  the  present  status 
was  finally  brought  about.  I  remember  hearing  an  army  officer  say 
that  as  late  as  1845,  '^^  central  New  York,  where  he  then  resided  as 
a  boy  of  some  twelve  years  of  age,  he  was  soundly  whipped  by  his 
father  because  he  had  expressed  his  unwillingness  to  attend  one  of  the 
"ragged  schools" — as  the  Sunday  schools  in  his  vicinity  were  then 
called;  and  he  added  that  his  impressions  of  the  low  caste  of  the  school 
were  so  definite  that  he  took  his  whipping  like  a  man  and  without  com- 
plaint. 

With  no  public  libraries,  in  any  modern  sense  of  the  word  at  least, 
and  with  no  private  libraries  worth  mentioning — either  in  number  or  in 
size  or  in  the  value  of  the  collections — and  with  no  children's  books, 
the  first  Sunday-school  libraries  were  organized  to  meet  a  very  definite, 
though  limited,  demand.  Naturally  they  have  grown  with  the  growth 
of  the  schools — and  they  have  grown  because  many,  if  not  all,  of  the 
conditions  have  continued  until  quite  recently,  and  still  continue  (in 
part  at  least)  in  many  sections  of  the  country.  It  is  undoubtedly  true 
that  in  many  districts  these  Sunday-school  libraries  furnish  the  only 
reading  matter  worth  mentioning,  either  to  the  children  or  to  the  com- 
munity at  large. 

But  the  place  and  value  of  the  Pubhc  Library  also  have  changed  greatly 
during  the  passing  years.  From  the  position  of  a  very  inconsiderable 
factor  in  the  world's  life  and  progress,  it  has  forged  steadily  to  the  front, 
until  now  we  are  beginning  to  understand  that  it  is  an  integral  part  of 
the  system  of  public  and  free  education.  In  many  respects  it  is  quite  as 
important  a  part  as  the  public  school  itself.  It  ministers  to  the  entire 
community,  and  throughout  the  entire  life  of  the  community,  rather  than 
to  a  part  only  and  for  a  limited  time.  So  completely  have  the  American 
people  accepted  the  educational  value  of  the  Public  Library  that  unques- 


SUNDAY-SCHOOL  TEACHER  AND  PUBLIC  LIBRARY      421 

tionably  we  are  not  far  from  the  time  when  any  community  which  is  able 
to  support  a  good  high  school  will  put  side  by  side  with  the  high  school 
a  good  public  library — which  will  receive  as  generous  support  and  in  all 
respects  will  be  made  as  efficient  in  administration  as  the  high  school 
itself.  It  is  hardly  too  much  to  believe  that  communities  will  soon  be 
willing  and  more  than  wiUing  to  meet  equal  expenditures,  dollar  for 
dollar,  for  each  of  these  two  great  educational  institutions.  Meanwhile 
we  are  organizing  state  libraries,  we  are  doing  much  through  traveling 
hbraries  which  may  reach  every  community  in  the  state,  and  we  are 
seeking  by  enlarged  uses  of  the  mails,  of  the  telephone,  and  of  the 
electric  car  to  place  such  facilities  as  we  already  possess  within  the  easy 
reach  of  all  our  people — both  urban  and  rural. 

Except  in  rare  cases,  where  the  community  is  remote  and  isolated 
and  largely  bookless,  it  is  very  generally  conceded  that  the  necessity  for 
strictly  secular  books  in  Sunday-school  libraries  is  past.  The  real  ques- 
tion before  us,  then,  today  is  whether  it  pays  in  any  sense  of  the  word  to 
continue  the  Sunday-school  Hbrary  for  the  sake  of  the  religious  books 
which  may  be  circulated  in  this  way.  The  definite  disadvantages  of 
the  Sunday-school  library  are  these:  (i)  It  is  open  but  once  a  week,  and 
we  have  long  since  learned  that  the  greatest  efficiency  of  any  library 
is  to  be  found  in  its  constant  accessibility.  Even  the  libraries  which  are 
opened  on  parts  of  each  day,  or  on  certain  days  of  each  week,  are  far 
less  efficient  and  satisfactory,  per  capita  or  per  volume  or  on  any  other 
system  of  comparison,  than  those  of  longer  and  more  regular  hours.  (2) 
Each  library  is  necessarily  limited  in  size  because  of  limited  resources, 
and  finds  the  task  of  keeping  pace  with  the  best  publications  of  the  day 
exceedingly  burdensome.  The  alert  child-mind  of  today  wearies  of 
repetition  of  old  matter,  and  becomes  exceedingly  dissatisfied  with  well- 
known  volumes  which  often  have  little  to  commend  them  except  their 
age.  (3)  There  is  a  large  waste  of  money  in  the  duplicate  purchases 
made  necessary  in  any  community.  The  total  number  of  titles  from 
which  to  choose  for  such  a  library  is  comparatively  restricted;  the 
really  vital  books  are  still  fewer  in  number;  and  the  result  is  that  many 
of  these  books  are  purchased  by  each  of  the  churches  in  any  given  com- 
munity— with  a  certain  very  definite  loss  of  effective  energy  and  of  money 
when  used  in  this  way.  (4)  The  Sunday-school  libraries  of  the  present 
cannot,  in  the  nature  of  things,  be  very  skilfully  administered.  The 
services  of  the  librarian  are  volunteered  and  necessarily  somewhat 
irregular,  there  is  comparatively  little  opportunity  for  him  or  her  to 
make  careful  study  of  the  situation  and  of  the  wants  of  the  different 
classes  and  of  individual  scholars,  and   the   time  allotted  for  hbrary 


422  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

work  each  Sunday  must  necessarily  be  as  infinitesimal  as  possible. 
(5)  The  library  work  of  each  school  makes  necessary  and  inevitable 
inroads  upon  the  time  of  the  school  and  the  attention  of  the  pupils, 
neither  of  which  exists  in  any  too  large  quantity. 

It  is  difficult  to  see  why  in  any  community,  if  not  in  most  or  all  com- 
munities, it  will  not  be  much  more  satisfactory  to  abandon  the  Sunday- 
school  hbrary  entirely  as  such  and  as  now  administered,  and  care  for 
this  matter  through  the  PubHc  Library  and  its  branches  and  reading- 
rooms.  The  advantages  of  this,  briefly,  are  to  be  found  in  conditions 
which  are  precisely  the  opposite  of  those  just  stated;  that  is,  the  collec- 
tions would  be  accessible  during  the  entire  week,  they  would  not  be  sub- 
ject to  present  limitations  in  size,  there  would  be  no  duplications  in  pur- 
chase. Each  of  five,  ten,  or  fifteen  churches  would  have  access  to  a 
collection  practically  five,  ten,  or  fifteen  times  as  large  as  would  be 
possible  to  each  of  them  under  present  conditions;  there  would  be  the 
same  skilful,  professional,  and  enthusiastic  administration  of  these  col- 
lections as  that  which  now  makes  so  efficient  the  work  in  the  public 
libraries;  and  the  work  of  the  schools  would  go  forward  each  Sunday 
without  interruption. 

If  the  Sunday  school  is  remote  from  the  Public  Library,  there  is  every 
reason  why  the  school  should  be  used  as  a  distributing  station  by  the 
Public  Library:  teachers  and  library  staff  working  together  with  frequent, 
if  not  weekly,  conference.     This  will  add  greatly  to  the  efiiciency  of  both. 

For  the  present,  perhaps,  objection  will  be  raised  to  expending  public 
money  for  books  which  may  be  called  sectarian,  and  books  which  are 
along  reUgious  rather  than  secular  fines.  Personally  I  do  not  believe 
that  this  is  a  serious  objection,  nor  do  I  think  it  one  which  it  is  at  all 
difficult  to  meet  in  a  satisfactory  way.  If  the  Public  Library  were 
situated  in  a  manufacturing  town,  it  would  be  a  very  poor  and  inefficient 
librarian  who  would  not  make  a  study  of  the  manufacturing  interests, 
and  by  careful  inquiry  determine  what  periodicals  and  what  books 
would  be  most  helpful  to  the  operatives  in  these  factories;  and  it  would 
be  a  very  unwise  and  narrow-minded  board  of  trustees  which  would 
object  to  the  expenditure  of  money  on  these  fines  as  being  expenditures 
for  private  or  corporate  purposes  rather  than  for  the  entire  pubfic.  Any 
public  library  worthy  of  the  name  will  undertake  to  meet  in  a  satisfac- 
tory way  all  of  the  interests  of  the  community;  and  certainly  the  interests 
of  the  children  gathered  for  religious  instruction  and  representing  the 
great  mass  of  the  families  of  the  community  are  as  worthy  of  recogni- 
tion as  those  of  the  factory  hands.  I  am  not  unaware  of  the  difficulties 
which  may  arise,  largely  because  of  a  certain  narrow-mindedness  and 


SUNDAY-SCHOOL  TEACHER  AND  PUBLIC  LIBRARY      423 

intensity  of  feeling  and  great  sensitiveness  over  ecclesiastical  matters; 
but  I  believe  it  is  entirely  possible  to  serve  the  community  along  these 
lines  in  an  entirely  satisfactory  way. 

But  granting  that  we  have  not  yet  reached  the  point  where  this  can 
be  accomplished  with  entire  ease  and  safety,  the  following  plan  is  cer- 
tainly feasible:  to  let  each  of  the  churches  place  in  the  hands  of  the 
trustees  of  the  Public  Library  the  sum  which  it  would  otherwise  expend 
directly  for  its  own  library — this  aggregate  sum  to  be  expended  for  the 
purchase  of  books,  under  suggestion  and  advisement  from  pastors, 
superintendents,  and  teachers  of  the  various  churches  and  Sunday 
schools,  co-operating  with  the  librarian  and  the  trustees. 

The  present  Sunday-school  libraries  being  deposited  with  the  Public 
Library,  and  future  additions  provided  for  in  this  way,  the  administrative 
problems  are  exceedingly  simple.  It  will  be  the  duty  of  the  librarian 
by  frequent  conference  with  superintendents  and  teachers  of  the  Sunday 
schools  to  place  within  easy  reach  of  the  children  the  books  that  are 
most  helpful,  from  week  to  week  or  from  month  to  month,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  lesson- work.  All  the  thousand  and  one  methods  by  which 
the  expert  librarian  of  today  wins,  holds,  interests,  and  stimulates  the  chil- 
dren of  the  community  will  be  brought  to  bear  upon  these  children  along 
the  lines  of  this  class  of  reading  precisely  as  along  the  lines  of 
secular  interest.  That  there  is  the  slightest  shadow  of  danger  of  sec- 
tarian influence  by  or  through  the  librarian  I  cannot  believe  to  be  true, 
any  more  than  I  can  believe  that  a  librarian  will  undertake  to  train  the 
children  in  political  or  economic  partisanship. 

I  am  quite  ready  to  agree  that  the  Public  Library  should  not  assume 
in  any  department  the  duties  and  responsibilities  of  a  teacher  of  theology 
or  of  any  form  of  ecclesiasticism.  It  should  aim  to  give  to  all  citizens 
the  freest  access  to  all  truth.  But  two  things  ought  to  be  kept  care- 
fully in  mind:  (i)  that  there  is  a  wide  difference,  often  a  very  wide 
difference,  between  religion  and  ecclesiasticism  or  theology;  (2)  that 
the  religions  of  the  world  are  very  concrete  facts,  and  very  important 
historical  facts,  and  very  influential  civic  and  social  facts.  To  exclude 
these  from  a  public  library  is  to  exclude  a  large  part  of  the  history  and 
interest  of  the  human  race.  The  Library  itself  may  very  properly  restrict 
the  expenditures  of  public  money  to  general  and  colorless  treatises, 
selected  with  more  than  usual  care.  But  it  ought  not  to  hesitate  to  put 
upon  the  shelves,  by  gift  or  other  form  of  contribution,  whatever  will 
make  answer  to  an  honestly  inquiring  mind,  young  or  old — using  pre- 
cisely the  same  judgment  and  care  in  meeting  with  the  help  of  these 
collections  the  demands  of  a  reader  that  it  does  in  meeting  any  other 


424  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

demand — no  more,  no  less.  If  any  church  desires  to  set  forth  its  par- 
ticular creed,  or  any  or  all  of  its  peculiar  doctrines,  through  the  printed 
page,  there  is  no  reason  why  these  comparatively  few  books  may  not 
be  purchased  by  the  church  interested,  and  kept  and  used  as  what  might 
be  called  a  laboratory  library;  leaving  for  the  collection  in  the  public 
library  those  more  general  works  which  are  at  least  reasonably  unde- 
nominational, while  strictly  ethical  or  religious — a  by  no  means  difficult 
combination.  Surely  this  is  safeguard  enough,  for  either  the  public 
library  or  for  the  church. 

We  need  to  use  good  sense  in  this  entire  matter;  and  when  we  have 
once  reached  this  point  the  Public  Library,  through  its  Sunday-school 
division  or  department,  will  become  a  most  effective  factor  for  intelli- 
gence and  righteousness  throughout  the  entire  community. 


XIV.     THE  PRESS 


THE  RELATION  OF  THE  RELIGIOUS  PRESS  TO 

RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

NOLAN  R.  BEST, 

ASSOCIATE   EDITOR   "THE   INTERIOR"    (PRESBYTERIAN),    CHICAGOj 

As  newspaper  men  we  can  scarcely  feel  in  this  movement  for  religious 
education  an  interest  more  circumscribed  than  the  total  area  of  the  inter- 
est of  the  general  Convention.  It  is  a  duty  of  our  place  and  work  to 
promote,  not  special  and  exclusive  means  of  Christian  education,  but  all 
means.  Our  office  is  to  interpret,  support,  enforce — possibly  to  help 
guide — whatever  makes  for  Christian  and  moral  progress.  Not  as  a 
right  that  we  claim,  but  as  an  obligation  that  we  cannot  evade,  it  will  be 
ours  to  write  hereafter,  as  it  has  been  heretofore,  on  practically  every 
topic  discussed  in  all  seventeen  of  the  departmental  conferences  of  this 
Association,  as  well  as  on  all  the  themes  of  the  general  program.  Fur- 
ther, the  manner  and  method  of  our  writing  will  largely  determine  what 
advantage  the  church  at  large — the  church  that  does  not  attend  conven- 
tions— will  derive  from  the  wise  things  said  in  this  Convention.  We  are 
set  to  be  interpreters  of  this  movement,  as  largely  of  all  movements  of 
Christian  advance,  and  the  obligation  is  a  solemn  one.  How  shall  we 
acquit  ourselves  most  usefully  in  this  function  ?  I  venture  some  obser- 
vations on  the  spirit  and  method  whereby,  as  I  conceive  it,  we  may  best 
promote  new  popular  interest  in  religious  education. 

I .  We  should  beware  of  attacking  the  present  educational  methods  of 
the  church  as  egregious  abuses.  There  are  two  reasons  for  this  caution — 
one,  that  rampageous  assaults  are  never  good  tactics  even  when  abuses 
do  demand  to  be  reformed;  the  other,  that  the  present  educational 
methods  of  the  church  are  not  abuses.  They  are  defective,  but  not 
evil,  and  it  behooves  us  to  be  gentle  even  in  mentioning  the  deficiencies; 
we  shall  help  on  better  ideals  more  rapidly  by  a  certain  circumspection. 
I  abominate,  at  any  rate,  the  habit  of  "new"  people  and  "new"  things 
lording  it  over  the  "old."  It  is  a  very  fresh  and  impertinent  adjective, 
that  httle  word  "new,"  and  it  often  intrudes  its  face  impudently  where 
it  has  no  right.  Doubtless,  many  of  our  thinkings  and  sayings  on 
topics  educational  today  have  a  degree  of  novelty  about  them;  but  in  so 
far  as  they  are  vaUd  and  worthy,  they  have  their  honorable  and  legiti- 

425 


426  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

mate  ancestry  among  the  best  things  thought  and  said  and  done  by 
the  best  workers  of  former  years.  The  church  makes  progress — let 
us  thank  God  for  it — but  the  progress  is  not  an  evolution  by  saltation; 
it  is  an  evolution  by  variation.  Perhaps  only  by  cumulative  result  do 
the  variations  become  visible,  but  the  church  grows  and  must  grow  out 
of  its  past.  In  the  civil  state,  democracy  calls  itself  the  new  spirit  of  a 
new  age  until  it  learns  history  better,  and  then  it  acknowledges  itself  the 
heir  of  every  generation  from  the  patriarchs  to  the  Pilgrims,  and  far 
more  indebted  to  the  stabiUty  of  despotism  than  to  the  rashness  of  revolu- 
tion. So  when  the  genius  of  liberty  of  thought  and  conscience  enters 
the  church,  it  proclaims  itself  in  revolt  against  all  the  fathers,  but  a  Httle 
afterward  more  sober-minded,  it  sees  in  a  thousand  choice  spirits  of 
times  gone  by  the  sowers  of  all  the  seed  from  which  it  is  now  reaping  its 
sustenance. 

The  immediate  application  of  these  truisms  to  the  interests  in  hand 
at  this  Convention  is  by  way  of  protest  against  any  word  in  our  editorial 
treatment  of  the  problem  of  religious  education — or  in  anybody  else's 
treatment  of  it,  for  that  matter — which  implies  that  up  to  this  time  the 
church  has  done  nothing  worth  mentioning  of  an  educational  sort,  and 
that  now  in  these  latter  days  a  company  of  us  have  risen  up  to  shame  its 
neglect  and  set  it  about  its  business.  So  sure  as  we  talk  that  way  we 
shall  array  against  this  Association  and  prejudice  against  improvement 
a  multitude  of  the  best  men  and  women  in  our  churches.  The  educa- 
tional obligation  of  the  church  is  at  this  moment  better  discharged  than 
ever  before  in  Christian  history.  What,  then,  is  our  opportunity  to 
smooth  the  way  of  progress?  Why,  to  speak  out  and  applaud — as 
truth-telling  people  will  certainly  be  happy  to  do — the  extraordinary 
zeal,  devotion,  and  downright  hard  work  even  now  expended — and  not 
without  a  vast  aggregate  of  good  result — on  the  Christian  training  of 
the  young  in  homes,  churches,  Sunday  schools,  day  schools,  and  schools 
of  advanced  learning.  And  having  so  generously  praised  well-meriting 
worth  and  work,  we  shall  have  our  chance,  served  by  both  tact  and  truth, 
to  add  with  most  emphatic  point  that  there  is  infinite  room  to  do  better 
in  the  same  lines.  There  is  plenty  of  virile  force  in  the  churches,  itself 
already  conscious  of  accomplishing  less  than  it  ought  in  proportion  to 
either  power  or  need,  to  which  the  suggestion  of  higher  efficiency  will 
appeal  as  the  opening  of  a  new  circuit  appeals  to  the  electric  current,  if 
only  we  have  the  grace  to  wire  up  the  connections  with  a  reasonable 
diplomacy.  Every  pastor  one  talks  with  admits  the  immense  short- 
coming of  the  church  in  its  educational  service  to  its  children  and  young 
people.     They  all  alike  crave  some  increased  stimulus  which  will  bring 


THE  RELIGIOUS  PRESS  AND  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  427 

forth  in  their  congregations  better  apprehension  of  vahd  methods  among 
those  already  concerned  in  Sunday  school  or  other  educational  work; 
better  estimate  of  the  tremendousness  of  the  duty  among  those  but 
indolently  interested,  and  some  even  explosive  awakening  among  those 
who  do  not  care  and  have  never  thought.  Agitation  of  the  obvious 
deficiencies  of  Sunday-school  work  and  the  obvious  lacks  of  home 
training  will  be  willingly  heard — even  welcomed — among  the  churches, 
provided  only  that  it  is  just  enough  to  recognize  the  existence  of  a  founda- 
tion on  which  to  build. 

2.  It  behooves  us  in  dealing  with  the  theme  of  better  Bible  teaching 
to  lay  the  emphasis  on  that  cardinal  principle  whereunto  all  Protestant 
Christendom  can  most  heartily  and  unitedly  assent — that  unhostile  study 
of  the  Bible  is  always  a  Hfe-giving,  character-making  discipline,  no  matter 
who  studies  it  nor  how.  I  deplore  as  much  as  any  of  you  can,  I  think, 
the  incidental  ills  that  attend  some  unfortunate  habits  of  handling  the 
Word  of  God — using  it,  for  instance,  as  an  armory  of  polemic  weapons 
or  as  a  mystic  book  of  divination.  Many  people  get  very  erroneous 
notions  out  of  their  study  of  the  Word  of  God.  I  have  joined  this 
catholic  organization,  the  Religious  Education  Association,  because  of 
my  faith  that  the  Bible  is  the  pre-eminently  useful  book  for  these  times 
as  for  all  times  of  men,  and  my  conviction  that  every  man  who  loves  the 
Book  ought  to  join  with  every  other  man  of  like  love  and  faith  to  contend 
for  its  larger  place  in  the  "practical  life"  of  the  world.  And  it  is  in  this 
spirit  that  I  want  to  speak  of  this  movement  to  the  many  men  of  many 
minds,  but  of  common  reverence  for  the  inspired  Word,  who  may  do  me 
the  honor  to  read  what  I  write  from  week  to  week. 

Whoever  understands  the  earher  part  of  the  Genesis  story  to  be 
legend  rather  than  literal  history  is  merely  honest  if  he  teaches  it  that 
way  to  his  children;  and  if  they  from  that  standpoint  receive  it  with 
religious  apprehension,  happy  is  he.  I  am,  I  trust,  neither  so  narrow 
nor  so  obtuse  that  I  cannot  understand  how  a  man  who  believes  Genesis 
legendary,  and  who  believes  many  other  things  not  yet  accepted  within 
the  pale  of  orthodoxy,  may  still  with  all  his  heart  receive  the  Bible  as 
divine  revelation  and  the  only  infallible  rule  of  faith  and  practice.  I 
should  not  even  make  complaint  if  he  organized  a  society  to  convince 
other  people  that  they  too  ought  to  teach  their  children  what  he  has 
determined  to  teach  his  in  the  minor  literary  details  of  Bible  study.  But 
manifestly  such  a  society  would  be  a  body  very  much  smaller  than  the 
Religious  Education  Association,  and  because  I  do  not  want  this 
organization,  so  broadly  conceived,  to  be  in  realization  less  than  com- 
mensurate with  the  scale  on  which  it  is  founded,  I  should  object  to  any- 


428  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

body  taking  this  great  structure  for  such  a  purpose.  We  must  present 
the  Association  to  the  pubhc  as  a  society  buih  on  a  plane  far  above  the 
contentions  of  radical  and  conservative  criticism — representing  the 
higher  agreement  of  all  Christians  of  every  kind,  party,  and  order  on 
the  fundamental  divinity  of  the  Scriptures.  It  is  ours  to  hold  the  door- 
ways of  entrance  into  this  fellowship  open  as  hospitably  to  the  man  who 
takes  the  serpent  of  Eden  for  a  snake  as  to  the  man  who  takes  it  for  a 
personification.  The  two  of  them  can  come  in  together  very  comfortably 
if  they  will,  on  the  mutual  recognition  that,  whether  fact  or  fiction,  that 
reptile  stands  for  very  real  besetments  in  human  life,  and  the  Bible  is 
the  only  book  that  can  tell  a  man  reliably  how  to  defeat  those  besetments. 

Individual  men  and  small  groups  of  men  must,  after  all,  decide  for 
themselves  just  what  they  will  teach  when  they  come  to  these  critical 
points — critical  just  now  in  two  senses.  It  is  idle  to  hope  at  present 
for  any  wide  consensus  of  Christian  judgment  thereupon.  All  that  a 
movement  may  do  which  desires  to  be  as  widely  inclusive  as  the  Religious 
Education  Association  is  to  stand  back  of  all  teachers  of  the  Word, 
crying:  "Teach  it;  teach  it,  whatever  you  believe,  and  just  as  much  as  you 
believe;  and,  above  all,  teach  it  just  as  well  and  earnestly  as  you  can; 
do  not  be  slipshod  or  dilatory  or  indifferent  or  formalistic;  put  your  life 
and  brain  and  the  best  of  both  into  your  Bible-teaching."  Such  a  voice 
crying  in  the  land  must  bring  a  mighty  awakening  through  all  the 
churches  and  all  the  schools,  and  it  is  a  great  privilege  which  comes  to 
us,  to  be  the  megaphones  for  that  call.  The  differences  between  the 
opposing  wings  of  Biblical  scholarship  are  by  no  means  so  great  and 
radical  as  either  side  imagines,  and  it  is  certainly  a  very  happy  and 
wholesome  work  to  mediate  between  them  by  thus  magnifying,  before 
the  eyes  of  both  and  before  the  eyes  of  the  church  at  large,  the  unifying 
principle  that  binds  them  both  indissolubly  to  that  immortal  Book 
which  is  never  dishonored  except  when  its  friends  doubt  whether  it  is 
capable  of  vindicating  its  divine  character  to  honest  human  reason. 
The  Religious  Education  Association  is,  I  think,  destined  to  do  much 
in  the  line  of  that  service,  and  I  think  that  the  religious  press  should 
particularly  try  to  forward  that  function  of  its  life  and  labor. 

3.  My  third  remark  is  that  as  newspaper  sermonizers  on  the  themes 
which  this  Association  sets  to  the  fore,  we  must  not  allow  ourselves  to 
say  anything  capable  of  interpretation  that  the  Association  values  intel- 
lectual culture  above  spiritual  life.  There  is  a  real  danger  here,  for  the 
church  has  been  so  exceptionally  deficient  in  the  intellectual  accent  of 
its  moral  training  for  its  children,  that  when  need  of  betterment  is  dis- 
cussed, the  talk  is  apt  to  run  too  strongly  to  the  intellectual  side  of 


THE  RELIGIOUS  PRESS  AND  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  429 

religious  education.  It  may  be  necessary  occasionally  to  file  special 
notice  that  we  have  not  lost  our  balance  nor  forgotten  that  life  is  forever 
more  essential  than  any  cultivation  of  life.  This  will  set  us  and  the 
cause  of  religious  education  right  with  many  good  people  who  might 
otherwise  be  in  dread  of  our  losing  from  view  the  fundamentals.  It  is 
especially  in  connection  with  the  Sunday  schools  that  I  feel  anxious  for 
the  point  I  am  now  making.  It  is  so  easy  to  pick  flaws  in  the  pedagogy 
of  the  Sunday  school — that  is  to  say,  where  it  has  any  pedagogy  at  all — 
that  we  are  apt  to  overlook  its  evangelistic  influence.  Yet  I  have  not 
a  particle  of  doubt  that  for  the  practical  progress  of  righteousness  in 
the  world  the  evangelism  of  the  Sunday  school  is  vastly  more  important 
than  its  pedagogy.  And  I  want  to  call  you  all  to  witness  what  I  trust 
you  have  by  no  means  overlooked — that  the  typical  Sunday  school  of 
these  times  is  performing  its  evangelistic  function  quite  moderately  well. 
It  is  actually  saving  souls  and  recruiting  the  churches  with  more  useful 
material  than  they  are  obtaining  from  any  other  source  of  supply.  I  am 
quite  ready  to  say  with  you  that  the  spiritual  salvation  of  the  boys  and 
girls  is  not  all  that  the  Sunday  school  ought  to  be  responsible  for;  that  it 
ought  additionally  to  be  training  them  for  an  intelligent  citizenship  in 
the  Kingdom  of  God  here  on  this  present  earth.  But  we  must  all  the 
while  remember  that  any  gain  secured  in  this  direction  at  the  price  of  a 
diminution  of  converting  power  is  worse  than  loss.  And  we  must  ask 
from  the  Sunday  school  only  such  improvement  in  its  pedagogy  and  intel- 
ligence as  may  contribute  to  its  spirituality.  Let  us  advocate  educa- 
tional efficiency  always  as  concomitant  to  evangelistic  efficiency.  The 
former  may  be  made  soundly  to  serve  the  latter,  and  should  be  kept  in 
the  relation  of  service,  not  exalted  to  superior  importance,  either  in 
practice  or  in  our  treatment  of  the  question. 

4.  Let  us  advocate  practical  things  in  our  papers  rather  than  retail 
much  theory.  The  abstract  oughtness  of  what  never  was  is  a  topic 
which  will  not  go  very  far  with  the  readers  of  our  journals.  We  must 
put  our  ideas  of  reform  in  the  concrete,  and  then  we  shall  move  moun- 
tains of  human  inertia.  To  be  frank  with  you,  the  question  which  is 
asked  me  oftenest  about  the  Religious  Education  Association  is:  "What 
is  it  going  to  do  anyhow?"  Of  course,  I  say  it  cannot  do  very  much 
of  anything  except  to  keep  the  big  questions  of  its  field  everlastingly 
stirred  up,  and  so  prevent  people  from  going  to  sleep  over  their  work. 
But  it  can — or  we  can  at  least — talk  about  all  these  problems  in  terms 
of  the  tangible,  not  as  airy  idealities.  For  instance,  in  the  Sunday 
school,  if  we  feel  like  giving  the  mark  of  our  approval  to  the  graded- 
lesson  idea,  let  us  support  it  not  with  essays  on  "the  adaptation  of  the 


430  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

Biblical  material  to  the  adolescent  mind,"  but  with  illustrations  of  how 
it  works  when  it  is  tried,  and  plans  for  its  application  in  the  ordinary 
school.  When  we  come  to  the  matter  of  moral  instruction  in  the  public 
schools,  let  us  not  talk  platitudes,  but  propose  policies  that  seem  appli- 
cable to  the  ordinary  American  community.  The  idea  of  having  a 
Sunday-school  chair  in  each  theological  seminary — that  is  palpable 
enough  to  interest  minister  and  layman  alike;  possibly  we  may  induce 
some  layman  to  contribute  to  such  an  endowment.  And  as  to  the 
religious  influence  of  the  home,  let  us  not  indulge  in  glittering  generali- 
ties on  parental  responsibility,  but  make  specific  exhortation  to  teach 
the  Bible  stories  and  have  family  prayer.  Let  us  bring  all  this  move- 
ment close  to  the  heart  and  life  of  the  common  people — who  certainly 
compose  our  weekly  audiences,  whether  or  not  we  allow  that  the  same 
designation  includes  ourselves. 

You  doubtless  trace  one  guiding  thought  through  all  these  loosely 
strung  observations.  It  is  the  necessity  of  making  the  ReHgious  Educa- 
tion Association  appeal  to  all  Christian  people.  The  Association  has 
wonderfully  attracted  the  learned  and  the  professionally  interested. 
But  I  may  be  forgiven  for  saying  that  I  think  it  is  today  a  good  deal 
disadvantaged  by  the  preponderance  of  the  scholastic  element  in  it. 
Of  course,  it  would  be  a  very  interesting  thing  to  maintain  a  club  of  experts 
associated  for  the  scientific  investigation  of  pedagogical  problems  rela- 
tive to  the  religious  consciousness.  But  it  will  be  an  immensely  finer 
thing  to  build  up  and  maintain  a  great  popular  brotherhood  of  people 
loyal  to  the  Bible  and  determined  to  exalt  it  as  the  law  of  mankind. 
And  may  it  be  our  privilege  to  help  make  that  of  this  Religious  Edu- 
cation Association. 


OPPORTUNITY  OF  THE   DAILY  PRESS  TO  APPLY  BIBLI- 
CAL PRINCIPLES  TO  MODERN  SOCIAL  PROBLEMS 

A.  J.  McKELWAY, 

EDITOR    "PRESBYTERIAN    STANDARD,"    CHARLOTTE,    NORTH    CAROLINA 

Every  newspaper  man  understands  that,  whether  his  paper  be  inde- 
pendent in  politics  or  partisan,  there  is  one  subject  that  must  be  handled 
gingerly — religion.  For  when  you  say  "religion,"  the  next  question 
is  "which?"  A  daily  paper  cannot  be  specifically  Catholic  or  Pro- 
testant, Presbyterian  or  Unitarian.  It  should  be  understood,  therefore, 
that  the  opportunity  of  applying  Biblical  principles  to  modern  social 
problems  is  not  illimitable.  At  the  same  time,  there  is  much  that  can 
be  done  along  legitimate  newspaper  lines. 

When  we  consider  what  is  meant  by  "Biblical  principles,"  we  are 
met  with  a  second  difl&culty.  What  principles  are  Biblical  ?  The  daily 
press  might  well  ask  the  religious  press  to  agree  on  a  few  Bibhcal  prin- 
ciples as  a  common  platform  before  asking  the  daily  press  to  apply 
those  principles.  Take  the  divorce  evil,  which  is  certainly  a  great  social 
problem.  The  daily  press  can  discuss  the  evil  in  a  general  way,  can  men- 
tion the  broken  homes,  the  parentless  children ;  can  even  go  so  far  as  to  say 
that  divorce  and  remarriage  are  often  progressive  polygamy.  But  what 
is  the  Biblical  principle  which  the  press  is  asked  to  apply  ?  The  Pro- 
testant church  says  that  the  innocent  party  to  a  divorce  may  remarry, 
and  that  the  guilty  party  may  not;  the  law  of  the  State  generally  allows 
either  party  to  remarry;  while  Catholic  interpreters  say  that  any  remar- 
riage is  unlawful,  unless  it  be  by  the  rare  exception  of  a  special  dispensa- 
tion. Which  teaching  is  the  Biblical  one  ?  The  denominational  paper  is 
really  freer  in  denouncing  the  evil  of  divorce;  the  law,  moreover,  pro- 
tects it  from  the  danger  of  a  libel  suit  in  defending  the  principles  of  its 
denomination.  But  the  daily  paper  might  have  to  figure  in  the  courts 
for  a  too  Biblical  interpretation  of  the  action  of  the  court  that  granted 
the  divorce  decree.  Or  take  the  subject  of  criminology.  Could  there 
be  obtained  from  this  Convention  a  composite  view  of  the  subject  of 
crime  and  its  punishment  ?  What  is  the  Biblical  idea  of  punishment  ? 
The  subject  is  of  some  importance.  A  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court 
has  taken  the  trouble  lately  to  go  into  the  magazines  on  the  proposition 
that  crime  is  not  being  adequately  punished  in  America,  and  that  there 
are  too  many  loopholes  for  the  escape  of  the  criminal.     Is  there  some- 

431 


432  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

thing  radically  wrong  in  our  conception  of  the  subject  ?  Is  punishment 
retribution  ?  Is  it  for  the  protection  of  society  ?  Is  it  for  the  reforma- 
tion of  the  criminal  ?  Which  is  the  Biblical  principle  ?  And  if  one  or 
the  other  editor  should  preach  his  particular  doctrine,  would  there  be 
any  guarantee  that  he  was  giving  the  Biblical  doctrine  ?  But  there  is 
a  Biblical  principle,  par  excellence,  common  to  the  Old  and  to  the  New 
Testament,  found  in  no  other  sacred  literature  in  anything  like  the 
clearness  with  which  it  shines  from  the  pages  of  the  one  Book:  "Hear 
O  Israel,  the  Lord  our  God  is  one  Lord.  And  thou  shalt  love  the  Lord 
thy  God  with  all  thy  heart  and  with  all  thy  soul  and  with  all  thy  might. 
....  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself."  So  says  the  Bible. 
And  He  of  whom  the  Old  Testament  foretells,  said:  "On  these  two 
commandments  hang  all  the  law  and  the  prophets." 

It  is  the  privilege,  therefore,  of  the  daily  press  to  preach  this  religion 
of  love  to  God  as  the  universal  duty,  as  the  final  solution  of  all  social 
problems,  involving  as  it  does  that  right  attitude  of  mind  toward  the 
Higher  Powers,  that  reverence  of  spirit,  that  is  the  foundation  principle 
of  all  morality ;  involving  as  it  also  does  right  conduct  toward  our  fellow- 
man.  And  while  the  two  are  one,  it  is  the  second  part  of  this  principle 
that  we  shall  discuss  in  relation  to  the  daily  opportunity  of  the  daily 
press  to  apply  it  and  enforce  it.  It  is,  after  all,  just  another  statement 
of  the  Golden  Rule. 

I  should  not  like  to  leave  the  first  part  of  the  principle,  love  to  God, 
without  this  further  remark — that  it  can  be  chiefly  manifested  in  the  office 
of  a  daily  newspaper  in  advocating  what  is  right,  what  is  in  accordance 
with  the  law  of  God.  In  things  that  affect  the  community,  in  things 
that  affect  the  commonwealth  and  the  nation,  even  in  international  rela- 
tions, there  stands  unchanging  and  unchangeable  the  law  of  God.  "If 
ye  love  me,"  says  Christ  Himself,  "keep  my  commandments."  If  we 
love  God,  we  shall  keep  His  commandments.  Nor  do  men  always  appre- 
ciate how  much  they  owe  to  the  newspaper  that  rings  true  on  questions 
of  righteousness;  and  the  paper  that  does  not  ring  true,  it  seems  to  me, 
is  the  exception  rather  than  the  rule.  The  great  newspapers,  the  suc- 
cessful newspapers,  have  found  by  experience  that  there  is  no  better 
line  to  hew  to,  no  better  chart  on  the  troubled  sea  of  journalism,  where 
decisions  must  sometimes  be  made  in  a  moment  that  will  affect  the 
policy  and  the  destiny  of  a  paper  for  years,  no  better  guide  than  the  law  of 
God.  With  this  standard  with  which  to  measure  conduct,  the  oppor- 
tunities that  come  to  the  daily  press  to  urge  upon  men  the  practical 
acceptance  of  the  Golden  Rule  are  simply  endless.  We  have  not 
yet  reached  the  point  where  the  Golden  Rule  can  be  put  into  our 


BIBLICAL  PRINCIPLES  IN  THE  DAILY  PRESS  433 

statute  books,  though  not  long  ago  a  New  York  judge  declared  that  that 
time  would  soon  be.  Thus  far  its  enforcement  depends  upon  public 
opinion.  And  the  great  molder  of  pubHc  opinion  today  is  the  daily 
press.  Once  the  pulpit  was  this,  and  the  pulpit  may  redeem  itself  to 
wield  its  old  power.  But  the  daily  press  has  the  right  of  way  in  this 
good  year  of  the  twentieth  century. 

Now  it  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  the  press  can  wield  that  power 
without  regard  to  truth  or  righteousness.  There  must  be  the  facts  to 
begin  with ;  but  the  facts  would  often  pass  unnoticed  but  for  the  watchful 
eye  of  the  man  who  is  at  the  head.  With  his  instinct  for  righteousness, 
with  his  broad  sympathies  for  the  weak  and  the  oppressed,  he  can  take 
the  facts  as  they  are  and  array  public  opinion  on  the  side  of  any  righteous 
contention.  Consider  the  relations  between  capital  and  labor,  for 
instance.  There  is  a  strike  on  between  a  corporation  and  its  employees. 
How  does  the  newspaper  man  go  about  his  work  ?  First,  and  above 
everything  else,  the  facts.  What  is  the  grievance  of  the  employees? 
What  is  the  answer  of  the  corporation  ?  And  then  come  comparisons. 
Are  the  wages  really  too  small  as  compared  with  the  wages  of  other 
employees  doing  the  same  kind  of  work  ?  Are  the  hours  too  long  ?  Is 
the  corporation  able  to  meet  the  demand?  What  are  its  relations  to 
the  public  ?  And  then,  these  facts  settled,  the  paper  makes  its  appeal 
to  what?  To  the  Golden  Rule.  It  is  not  a  question  of  law,  and  the 
lawyers  shake  their  heads  at  the  editor  as  he  goes  on  his  way.  The 
law  says  that  any  employer  of  labor  has  the  right  to  offer  any  wages  he 
pleases  at  any  terms  of  service  he  pleases,  and  if  men  do  not  like  it  they 
can  go  somewhere  else  for  work.  And  the  places  which  they  vacate  are 
the  employer's  to  fill  from  the  general  labor  market  at  the  best  terms  he 
can  get.  That  is  the  law.  And  the  law  was  given  according  to  those 
very  principles  by  Moses;  but  grace  and  truth  came  by  Him  who  said: 
"Whatsoever  ye  would  therefore  that  men  would  do  to  you,  do  ye  even 
so  to  them."  In  the  light  of  that  analysis  the  question  looks  different. 
Is  it  better  to  have  a  Httlc  larger  dividend  or  a  little  better  wage  ?  Is  it 
better  that  the  favored  few  should  have  a  few  weeks'  longer  vacation  at 
Newport  or  in  Europe,  or  the  workingman  have  another  half-hour  at 
his  home  with  his  family  in  daylight  ?  Which  ?  In  the  name  of  the 
Master,  which?  On  the  other  hand,  let  violence  begin,  and  the  same 
paper  turns  and  demands  the  enforcement  of  law,  that  order  may  be  pre- 
served. For  labor  must  observe  the  rule  as  well  as  capital.  This  may 
seem  simple  enough,  but  it  is  what  is  done  in  every  well-regulated  news- 
paper oflSce  time  and  again,  until  both  capital  and  labor  are  learning 
that  the  one  thing  necessary  to  their  winning  their  contention  is  to  have 


434  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

public  opinion  on  their  side.  And  the  daily  press,  with  its  grasp  of  the 
facts,  can  put  public  opinion  where  the  facts  say  it  ought  to  be  put.  In  the 
consideration  of  this  subject  it  sometimes  seems  to  men  who  are  trying 
with  the  aid  of  public  opinion  to  enforce  the  Golden  Rule,  that  perhaps 
the  whole  business  world  will  have  to  be  reorganized  before  the  rule  can 
become  a  law  of  that  world.  Competition  is  after  all  the  law  of  the 
jungle — the  weaker  forced  down  and  then  devoured  by  the  hungry  pack- 
Combination,  as  we  see  it  today,  is  just  the  final  result  of  competition 
where  the  weaker  ones  have  all  been  forced  to  the  wall  and  the  stronger 
alone  have  survived.  Here  is  the  universal  solvent,  and  as  we  practice 
it  in  one  matter  we  grow  into  a  wider  vision  concerning  its  ultimate 
application.     The  golden  age  will  be  the  age  of  the  Golden  Rule. 

Take  the  Sunday  question,  for  another  example.  It  is  well  under- 
stood that  our  modern  life,  especially  in  the  great  cities,  is  so  organized 
that  the  question  of  work  or  no  work  on  Sunday  becomes  a  very 
complicated  one.  Let  our  milk  trains  stop,  or  even  the  ice-wagons 
cease  their  daily  rounds,  on  Sunday,  and  the  little  children  of  the  poor 
di&.  It  is  better  to  save  life  than  to  kill.  And  then,  the  newspaper  can- 
not make  its  appeal  to  the  fourth  commandment  unless  its  constituency 
happens  to  be  of  practically  the  same  mind  about  it.  On  what  prin- 
ciple can  all  unite  ?  Why  on  this:  that  by  the  law  of  God,  as  some  of  us 
think,  and  by  the  law  of  our  own  natures,  even  the  physical  and  mental 
natures,  as  others  think — and  the  two  laws  are  one — men  have  a  sacred 
right  to  one  whole  rest-day  in  seven.  Let  that  be  the  criterion — the 
workingman's  right  to  rest,  the  same  right  that  his  employer  has  and 
takes;  and  the  problem  is  solved.  Let  it  be  understood  that  where  work 
must  be  done  on  Sunday  the  workman  is  given  another  day  for  rest  and 
recreation,  and  it  will  happen  that  the  employer  will  generally  prefer 
that  he  shall  rest  when  other  people  are  resting.  It  is  from  this  point 
of  view,  I  am  persuaded,  that  both  the  press  and  legislation  must  begin 
in  order  to  restore  to  our  land  the  blessing  of  Sunday  rest. 

Take  the  saloon  evil  as  a  representative  of  many  of  its  class.  The 
newspaper  need  not  belong  to  the  Prohibition  party ;  it  may  not  preach 
total  abstinence  as  a  principle,  Bibhcal  or  Koranic.  What  can  it  do  ? 
It  knows  that  the  law  has  made,  through  bitter  experience,  a  distinction 
between  the  liquor  business  and  every  other  business  that  is  licensed  by 
law.  The  law  recognizes  it  as  the  source  of  disorder  and  crime.  And 
the  American  saloon  is  also  recognized  by  all  inteUigent  students  of  excise 
problems  to  be  the  most  successful  agency  in  the  world  for  the  promo- 
tion of  drunkenness.  Now,  he  who  loves  his  neighbor  as  he  does  him- 
self is  by  consequence  the  enemy  of  whatever  promotes  drunkenness. 


BIBLICAL  PRINCIPLES  IN  THE  DAILY  PRESS  435 

It  is  not  necessary  to  have  saloons,  even  where  prohibition  cannot  be 
obtained.  There  is  the  dispensary  system  that  has  been  eminently  suc- 
cessful in  the  Carolinas — the  American  modification  of  the  Gothenburg 
system  of  Sweden.  Even  Russia  has  abolished  its  dramshops  and 
put  the  liquor  business  under  government  control.  In  South  Carolina 
it  is  written  in  the  state  constitution  that  there  cannot  be  a  saloon  in  the 
state.  And  while  our  national  drink  bill  is  eighteen  dollars  per  capita, 
the  drink  bill  in  South  Carolina  is  two  dollars  per  capita.  We  are  solv- 
ing the  problem  of  the  saloon  in  the  South.  There  are  today  five  thou- 
sand more  saloons  in  New  York  city  than  there  are  in  all  the  South. 
This  is  being  accomplished  by  the  steady  pressure  of  public  opinion 
along  this  line,  that  the  saloon  is  no  solution  of  the  problem  at  all,  that 
it  is  a  giving  up  of  the  problem  altogether,  and  that  the  Golden  Rule 
compels  its  abolishment.  We  do  not  carry  into  this  campaign  any 
war  against  any  man's  personal  habits  so  long  as  he  does  not  become  a 
drunkard  and  an  offense;  we  are  relegating  the  fanatics  to  the  rear  of 
our  movement;  we  do  not  make  a  campaign  issue  of  the  analysis  of  the 
alcohoHc  stomach.  But  public  opinion  is  becoming  irresistible  against 
the  saloon;  and  the  decent  papers,  even  in  our  largest  cities,  are  free  and 
outspoken  opponents  of  the  whole  saloon  system,  with  its  ramifications 
in  business  and  politics  and  vice. 


THE  OPPORTUNITY  OF  THE  SECULAR  PRESS  FOR  THE 
MORAL  EDUCATION  OF  THE  PEOPLE 

WILLIAM  T.  ELLIS, 

RELIGIOUS     EDITOR    "THE   PHILADELPHIA     PRESS,"    PHILADELPHIA 

The  daily  newspaper  reaches  everybody.  It  is  the  one  agency 
which  touches  all  the  people  all  the  time.  The  scholar  cannot  get 
along  without  it;  the  day-laborer  has  it  for  his  sole  intellectual  food. 
Rich,  poor,  wise,  ignorant,  young,  old — practically  everybody  reads 
the  daily  paper,  and  it  is  the  only  form  of  literature  of  which  this  may 
be  said.  Thus  the  opportunity  of  the  daily  press  is  unlimited.  It  has 
the  public  ear  and  has  it  six  or  seven  days  a  week.  Is  it  any  wonder, 
therefore,  that  national  ideals  are,  consciously  or  unconsciously, 
molded  by  the  daily  press?  We  have  seen  what  a  power  for  hurt 
the  widely  circulated  newspaper  may  be;  and  we  have  also  seen,  though 
not  so  conspicuously,  what  an  elevating  influence  it  may  wield. 

I.  The  paper  that  is.  The  newspaper  of  today  has  the  world  for 
its  field.  By  its  agency  the  whole  earth  has  become  one  neighborhood. 
Whatever  interests  men  concerns  it.  In  addition  to  giving  news  of 
the  universe,  it  caters  to  what  it  believes  to  be  the  special  interests  of 
mankind  —  and  womankind.  Its  departments  are  almost  as  numerous 
as  the  great  fields  of  human  endeavor.  Its  sporting  page  occupies 
more  space  than  its  cable  news;  its  fashion  notes  and  woman's  depart- 
ment are  likely  to  be  more  extensive  than  its  reports  of  a  great  war. 
There  is  really  only  one  considerable  subject  under  heaven  which  the 
average  daily  does  not  treat  regularly,  fully  and  exhaustively;  and  that 
subject  is  religion.  A  man  eminent  both  in  pubhc  life  and  in  journal- 
ism once  gave  me  his  theory  as  to  this  anomalous  condition:  "The 
church  people  are  a  negligible  quantity." 

True,  the  majority  of  the  men,  women,  and  children  in  these  United 
States  are  interested  to  some  extent  in  the  church.  More  than  one-third 
of  our  population  is  enrolled  in  church-membership.  The  churches  are 
the  center  of  social  life  and  moral  influence  in  most  parts  of  our  country. 
The  subjects  with  which  religion  deals  are  vital  to  everybody. 

Yet,  looked  upon  in  the  large,  the  average  newspaper  of  today  pre- 
sents no  adequate  treatment  of  religious  news  or  religious  interests. 
The  unassertiveness  of  church  people  is  doubdess  in  great  part  respon- 
sible for  this.     Were  they  one-half  so  clamorous  and  insistent  as,  say, 

436 


THE  SECULAR  PRESS  AND  MORAL  EDUCATION         437 

the  less  profitable  constituency  devoted  to  sports,  their  claims  would 
long  ago  have  received  fuller  recognition. 

The  environment  of  newspaper-makers  must  also  be  taken  into 
consideration,  in  seeking  an  explanation  of  the  failure  of  the  daily  press 
to  give  a  sufficient  presentation  of  religious  matters.  Newspaper  men 
are  out  of  touch  with  normal  life.  Their  lot  is  cast  "down  town." 
Their  hours  are  not  the  hours  of  other  men;  they  work  while  others 
sleep.  Consequently  they  are  largely  cut  off  from  ordinary  social 
relations  and  are  forced  into  a  world  by  themselves.  Thus  they  fail 
to  reahze  the  immensely  important  part  that  churches  and  religion 
play  in  the  life  of  the  average  person.  In  this  fact  may  be  found  the 
explanation  for  the  unsympathetic  and  inaccurate  treatment  of  reh- 
gious  topics  which  so  often  mars  a  daily  newspaper's  pages. 

2.  The  paper  that  should  he.  From  the  paper  that  is,  we  turn  to 
the  paper  that  should  be.  And  first,  let  it  be  said  that  I  have  no  hope 
or  desire  to  see  established  "a  Christian  daily,"  after  the  fashion  of 
Dr.  Sheldon's  famous  edition  of  the  Topeka  Capital.  That  experiment 
was  valuable  as  indicating  the  interest  of  the  world  in  rehgion,  but  the 
newspaper  it  produced  was  far  from  being  ideal.  It  is  to  be  doubted 
whether  it  could  have  found  a  profitable  constituency  for  any  consider- 
able duration  of  time,  since  it  lacked  sprightliness,  up-to-dateness  and 
comprehensiveness.  It  shut  out  many  interests  which  a  considerable 
number  of  persons  deem  important.  A  comprehensive  newspaper 
must  have  a  sporting  department  and  a  theatrical  department  as  well 
as  a  religious  department. 

The  newspaper  which  approaches  the  ideal  must  be,  first  of  all,  a 
news  paper.  Its  first  business  must  be  the  presenting,  in  proper  per- 
spective and  proportion,  of  the  news  of  the  world  in  general  and  of  the 
neighborhood  in  particular.  The  people  want  the  news.  True,  they 
want  other  things;  but  first  and  finally,  they  demand  a  record  of  the 
world's  busy  Ufe. 

The  first  great  opportunity  of  the  modern  newspaper  for  the  moral 
education  of  the  people  is  in  the  proportion  it  observes  in  its 
presentation  of  news.  "Yellow"  journalism  devotes  half  a  page 
to  the  criminal  deeds  of  degenerates,  and  dismisses  great  social 
movements  with  a  bare  mention.  In  its  theory  of  "features"  and 
sensations  it  is  false  to  life  and  distinctly  hurtful,  for  while  it  has 
long  been  an  aphorism  that  the  newspaper  mirrors  hfe,  it  is  coming  to 
be  almost  equally  true  in  these  latter  days  that  hfe  mirrors  the  news- 
paper. Thousands  of  persons  take  their  impressions  of  relative  values 
from  the  newspaper.     What  it  exalts  is  by  them  exalted.     The  epi- 


438  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

demies  of  certain  forms  of  crime  in  recent  years  may  usually  be  traced 
to  the  inordinate  attention  given  to  one  such  crime  by  sensational 
journals.  Because  many  persons,  ignorant  of  religion,  treat  it  flip- 
pantly, thousands  of  unthinking  readers  assume  the  same  attitude. 

The  first  great  opportunity,  I  repeat,  of  the  secular  press  for  the 
moral  education  of  the  people  is  in  its  selection  and  emphasis  of  news, 
and  in  the  tone  which  it  maintains.  The  man  who  edits  the  copy  and 
writes  the  headlines  is  as  truly  a  factor  in  the  moral  education  of  the 
people  as  the  man  who  writes  editorials.  A  newspaper  wields  its  influ- 
ence less  by  what  it  says  on  the  editorial  page  than  by  the  attitude  which 
it  maintains  throughout  all  its  columns.  Impressions  are  more  influ- 
ential than  exhortations. 

If  the  secular  press  gives  religion  its  proper  place,  if  it  sympathetic- 
ally reports  and  illustrates  important  religious  events,  if  it  shows  the 
same  zeal  and  intelligence  in  pursuing  and  presenting  rehgious  news 
that  it  displays  in  other  departments,  then  the  people  will  unconsciously 
come  to  regard  religion  not  only  with  greater  respect  but  also  as  an 
important  factor  in  the  daily  life  of  the  world.  In  this  direction  lies 
the  newspaper's  second  great  opportunity  for  the  moral  education  of 
the  people.  It  should  present  the  best  news  of  the  best  things  in  the 
best  fashion.  By  fulfilhng  its  mission  as  a  comprehensive  newspaper, 
with  respect  to  the  great  movements  of  religion,  education  and  philan- 
thropy, it  will  have  upon  the  public  the  same  efi'ect  that  a  well-lived 
Hfe  has  upon  a  neighborhood.  It  will  consistently  stand  for  those 
things  which  make  for  intellectual,  social  and  moral  progress.  It  is  a 
stricture  upon  modern  journahsm  that  a  big  prize  fight  is  certain  to  be 
more  carefully  reported  than  a  convention  of  the  country's  educators. 

Have  I  made  it  plain  that  the  newspaper  which  lives  up  to  its  oppor- 
tunity should  obey  that  first  commandment  of  journalism,  "Print  all 
the  news,  and  print  it  first,"  and  the  second  commandment,  "Thou 
shalt  not  be  dull"?  There  is  an  impression  abroad  among  younger 
workers  in  the  newspaper  field  that  whatever  is  serious  is  stupid.  I 
have  heard  many  adjectives  more  forcible  than  discerning  applied  to 
rehgious  and  educational  news  by  compositors,  proof-readers  and 
editors — which  I  relate,  not  as  a  fact  concerning  this  class  of  news,  but 
as  a  fact  concerning  certain  of  my  fellow-workers  in  the  subordinate 
positions  of  the  newspaper  field.  News,  any  news,  whether  it  be  of  a 
foot-ball  match,  of  a  session  of  Congress,  or  of  a  Presbyterian  General 
Assembly,  should  be  told  entertainingly  as  well  as  accurately. 

3.  How  to  make  the  paper  that  is,  the  paper  that  should  be.  The 
modern  newspaper  is  a  commercial  institution.     It  is  no  longer  an 


THE  SECULAR  PRESS  AND  MORAL  EDUCATION         439 

"organ"  of  one  man's  opinion.  It  is  a  business  concern,  established 
for  the  making  of  money.  Not  that  it  is  no  longer  served  and  man- 
aged by  men  with  high  ideals  of  duty — far  from  it.  I  personally  know 
many  men  in  the  field  of  journalism,  from  the  chair  of  editor-in-chief 
down  to  cub  reporters  on  the  street,  whose  sense  of  their  mission  is  as 
lofty  and  chivalrous  as  that  of  any  of  the  knightly  journahsts  of  a  pre- 
vious generation.  But  the  newspaper  as  an  institution,  with  its  vast 
resources  and  responsibihties  and  its  immeasurable  influence,  is  com- 
mercial. This  fact  is  not  to  be  mourned  but  to  be  rejoiced  over,  for 
it  insures  the  subjection  of  the  daily  press  to  the  popular  will.  Nothing 
is  so  sensitive  as  money — not  even  consciences.  It  is  easier  to  turn 
the  modern  newspaper  which  has  gone  astray  back  into  right  channels 
than  it  would  have  been  to  turn  some  of  those  hard-headed  old  editors 
and  newspaper  owners  of  a  former  day,  who  resembled  that  Scotchman 
whose  prayer  was:  "Lord,  grant  that  I  may  always  be  right,  for  thou 
knowest  I  am  hard  to  turn."  The  newspaper  of  today  is  ready  to  give 
the  people  what  the  people  want. 

Many  are  giving  what  they  think  the  people  ought  to  want.  In  the 
long  run,  however,  newspapers  as  a  whole  cannot  rise  very  far  above, 
or  sink  very  far  below,  the  general  level  of  the  people.  This  is  a 
sign  of  promise,  for  good  people  are  in  the  majority.  The  average 
American  is  as  sensible,  clean  and  patriotic  as  ever — and  a  little  more 
so.  The  degeneracy  of  certain  forms  of  journahsm  is  not  the  degene- 
racy of  popular  taste.  The  "yellow"  journals  found  their  own  fields 
chiefly  among  people  who  were  not  reading  other  papers;  and  even  so 
they  have  been  obUged  to  modify  their  sensationalism.  Since,  as  we 
know,  the  majority  of  Americans  are  church-going,  home-keeping, 
purity-loving  people,  the  question  of  elevating  the  daily  press  to  a 
higher  standard  in  its  manner  of  serving  the  moral  welfare  of  the  people 
becomes  a  simple  one  of  bearing  witness.  The  people  as  a  whole  have 
but  to  manifest  their  desire  in  order  to  have  it  granted.  "Let  the 
redeemed  of  the  Lord  say  so,"  is  the  text  which  I  should  choose,  if  I 
were  a  minister  and  called  upon  to  preach  a  sermon  upon  this  subject. 

The  church  people  have  but  to  "stand  up  straight  and  speak  out 
loud,"  as  our  teachers  in  the  reading-class  used  to  say,  to  effect  a  revolu- 
tion in  the  press's  presentation  of  religious  subjects.  It  cannot  be  too 
strongly  urged  that  those  who  are  truly  interested  in  the  Kingdom  should 
write  to  newspaper  editors  upon  this  subject,  which  is  of  such  serious 
concern.  Frankly  and  sensibly  tell  them  what  is  desired.  Thank  them 
for  what  they  have  done,  and  when  they  have  done  more,  thank  them 
yet  again,  and  be  not  weary  in  this  well-doing.     If  this  church-member 


440  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

is  at  the  same  time  a  business  man  and  an  advertiser,  his  power  will 
be  increased  tenfold.  In  any  case,  write  as  a  person  with  a  level  head. 
Don't  be  a  crank.  There  is  not  a  little  straining  at  gnats  and  swallow- 
ing camels  in  the  attitude  of  some  good  people  toward  the  newspaper. 
I  have  on  my  desk  a  seven-page  letter  from  a  man  protesting  the  pub- 
lication of  a  piece  of  legitimate  news  because  it  concerned  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church.  His  contention  is  not  only  that  all  Roman  Catholic 
Church  news  should  be  ignored,  but  also  that  every  truly  American 
newspaper  should  have  as  its  chief  interest  the  arousing  of  the  people 
to  the  menace  of  the  Scarlet  Woman.  Let  not  that  man  think  that  he 
shall  have  anything  from  a  newspaper.  He  is  a  crank,  and  his  letters 
go  to  the  waste  basket  as  inevitably  as  Newton's  apple  fell  to  the  ground. 
Of  sensible  criticism,  of  practical  suggestion,  and  of  merited  praise, 
however,  a  newspaper  cannot  receive  too  much.  The  influence  of 
even  an  unknown  correspondent  in  the  editorial  councils  is  far  greater 
than  is  commonly  believed. 

Let  it  be  remembered  that  the  great  mass  of  people  who  represent 
the  churches  have  rights  which  they  are  justified  in  claiming.  The 
practice  of  certain  well-meaning  church-workers  of  going  to  editorial 
offices  with  hat  in  hand  and  humbly  entreating  the  favor  of  a  free 
advertisement  of  the  Sunday  services  should  have  been  outgrown 
before  it  was  begun.  If  the  churches  want  their  services  advertised, 
let  them  go  to  the  business  office  and  pay  for  them,  as  the  theater  and 
every  other  business  enterprise  does.  Then,  holding  up  their  heads 
in  self-respect,  let  the  adherents  of  the  churches  ask  that  the  local  news 
of  their  congregations,  and  the  wider  news  of  the  great  Kingdom,  be 
accorded  proper  notice  by  the  newspapers,  and  that  those  subjects 
which  from  week  to  week  especially  interest  religious  people  shall  be 
given  the  same  accurate  and  sympathetic  attention  that  is  bestowed 
upon  the  drama,  fashions,  sports,  and  finance.  Show  the  average  editor 
that  this  is  the  desire  of  the  church-going  readers,  and  he  will  gladly 
and  promptly  comply  with  it.  He  has  no  interest  other  than  to  serve 
the  people. 

One  step  further.  Because  of  their  character  and  mission  the 
forces  of  religion  should  actively  co-operate  with  the  public  press.  In 
addition  to  asking  adequate  representation  in  the  columns  of  the  secular 
press,  the  churches  should  be  at  pains  to  assist  the  editors  to  make  their 
religious  features  as  attractive  and  accurate  as  possible.  Every  denomi- 
nation, for  instance,  should  have  a  press  bureau;  the  Methodists  are 
just  now  undertaking  the  estabhshment  of  one;  Christian  Science  has 
such  a  bureau;  so  has  the  Roman  Catholic  church;  so  has  every  theat- 


THE  SECULAR  PRESS  AND  MORAL  EDUCATION         441 

rical  manager.  Such  a  bureau  may  open  channels  of  real  news  to  the 
public  prints;  it  may  co-operate  with  press  associations,  as  well  as  with 
individual  newspapers;  it  may  facilitate  in  every  practical  way  the  work 
of  religious  news-gathering;  it  may  correct  misapprehensions  and  mis- 
statements; and,  more  important  than  anything  else,  it  may  educate 
the  rehgious  public  in  buying,  advertising  in,  and  otherwise  supporting 
those  newspapers  which  deal  fairly  with  religion. 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  RELIGIOUS  PRESS  ON  THE 
HOME  AND  THE  SCHOOL 

BY  EDMUND  F.  MERRIAM, 

EDITOR    "the    watchman"    (bAPTIST),    BOSTON,    MASSACHUSETTS 

The  religious  journal  occupies  a  unique  place  among  periodicals. 
It  is  read  by  the  fathers,  the  mothers,  and  all  the  adult  members  of  the 
family  as  a  rule,  and  in  some  part  usually  by  the  children  of  reading 
age.  After  it  has  been  carefully  read  by  the  members  of  the  first  family 
which  receive  it,  it  is  in  many  cases  passed  to  another  family,  or  sent 
to  a  home  or  foreign  missionary.  Moreover,  the  paper  is  read  with 
care.  Probably  every  editor  of  a  religious  paper  has  often  been  surp  rised 
and  gratified  at  the  minute  attention  which  the  columns  of  his  journal 
receive.  Every  issue  calls  forth  criticisms,  suggestions,  commenda- 
tions, and  articles  on  the  subjects  treated  and  the  ideas  advanced.  It 
ought  to  be  still  further  considered  that  the  thoughts  presented  in  the 
religious  journal  are  subjects  for  discussion  among  the  members  of  the 
families  to  which  it  goes.  Several  having  read  the  same  paper,  they  are 
in  a  position  to  talk  intelligently  on  the  ideas  suggested  or  matters 
treated,  and  the  amount  of  home  discussion  launched  by  a  single  issue 
of  a  religious  journal  is  almost  appalling  to  the  contemplation  of  an 
editor  who  has  a  keen  conscience  in  reference  to  his  responsibilities.  In 
this  connection  also  should  be  mentioned  the  large  use  of  the  religious 
journal  in  the  prayer-meeting  and  the  pulpit.  Not  a  week  passes 
without  a  multitude  of  sermons  being  preached  and  talks  being  given  in 
prayer-meetings  which  have  been  directly  suggested  and  inspired  by  a 
religious  journal. 

It  is  thus  evident  that  the  influence  of  ihe  religious  press  is  wide- 
spread, pervasive,  intensive,  and  impressive.  The  suggestions  of  other 
periodicals  are  elusive  and  flitting  in  comparison  with  the  permanent 
and  formative  impressions  made  by  the  religious  journal.  Aside  from 
this,  the  members  of  the  family  circle  rarely  read  the  same  periodicals. 
The  men  buy  the  daily  papers,  each  a  different  one  perhaps,  look  them 
over  hastily,  extract  what  is  of  special  value  to  them,  and  fling  them  away. 
The  editorials  in  daily  papers  are  read  by  few,  and  many  daily  papers 
have  no  editorials  in  a  proper  sense  of  the  term.  The  women  of  the 
family  have  their  special  periodicals,  which  give  them  the  information 
they  desire  concerning  domestic  economics  or  dress;  and  the  children 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  RELIGIOUS  PRESS  443 

read  yet  other  magazines.  All  these  are  in  large  part  for  information 
or  amusement,  and  have  little  to  do  with  tlie  formation  of  character 
or  the  interests  of  the  family  as  a  whole.  It  is  only  the  religious  paper, 
with  its  departments  for  young  and  old,  for  comment  on  current  events, 
on  Biblical  study,  on  the  spiritual  life,  on  the  progress  of  religious  work, 
and  for  home  reading,  which  equally  interests  all  the  members  of  the 
family,  and,  coming  every  week,  is  never  out  of  mind  nor  out  of  date. 
For  all  the  good  suggestions  and  helpfulness  it  brings  to  every  member 
the  paper  is  given  credit,  and  gradually,  under  its  name,  is  grouped  a 
very  large  proportion  of  the  ideas  which  go  to  make  the  character  of  the 
individuals  and  mold  the  type  of  the  family  Ufe. 

1.  Its  influence  in  the  family.  Although  quiet  and  unobtrusive, 
and  not  often  recognized  at  its  full  value,  the  religious  journal  is  perhaps 
second  to  no  other  influence  in  the  formation  of  the  moral  and  religious 
characters  of  the  children  of  a  Christian  family.  This  is  not  alone  nor 
chiefly  because  of  its  molding  efi'ect  upon  the  children.  It  has  shaped 
the  characters  of  the  fathers  and  mothers  perhaps  from  childhood,  and 
has  indicated  the  lines  of  their  own  instructions  to  their  children,  as  well 
as  suggested  from  week  to  week  helpful  lines  of  thought  in  child-training, 
and  also  supphed  articles  and  stories  of  a  high  moral  character  and 
religious  tone  which  may  be  read  to  the  smaller  children,  or  to  which 
the  attention  of  the  older  children  may  be  called  as  interesting  and 
suitable  for  their  perusal.  Parents  realize  something  of  this  in  the 
valuation  they  place  on  their  religious  paper.  Pastors  are  well  aware 
that  the  best  assistant  in  their  work  is  the  religious  paper  in  every 
family. 

2.  The  support  given  to  Christian  schools.  It  is  safe  to  say  that 
these  schools,  especially  denominational  schools,  could  not  prosper, 
even  if  they  could  exist,  without  the  support  given  them  by  the  rehgious 
press.  No  factor  is  more  potent  in  directing  students  to  their  doors ;  and 
in  the  raising  of  the  funds  for  founding  and  endowment,  no  agency 
except  personal  solicitation  is  more  effective  than  the  advocacy  of  the 
religious  journal.  Even  this  personal  factor  is  largely  dependent  on 
the  press  for  helpful  introduction,  authority,  and  success.  It  would  be 
easy  to  cite  numerous  recent  cases  in  which  the  religious  press  has  been 
the  pioneer  in  suggesting  movements  for  the  aiding  of  Christian  schools, 
and  others  where  it  has  been  the  chief  instrumentality  in  rousing  new 
enthusiasm  and  loyalty  for  schools  in  which  for  some  reasons  the  interest 
had  somewhat  dechned.  The  question  of  the  desirability  of  these 
schools  is  not  raised  here,  except  to  say  that  in  my  judgment  they  are 
an  indispensable  check  on  the  secularizing  and  materializing  tendencies 


444  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

of  the  day.  They  first  of  all  give  a  high  moral  and  rehgious  training, 
and  so  set  a  standard  to  which  public  schools  in  some  measure  find  it 
necessary  to  approximate. 

3.  The  sustaining  of  a  high  moral  tone  in  the  public  schools.  Indi- 
rectly it  does  this,  as  we  have  seen,  by  using  its  power  for  the  benefit 
of  schools  where  moral  and  religious  education  is  the  chief  aim.  But 
the  religious  journal  also  has  a  direct  share  in  molding  the  instruction 
in  public  schools.  Religion  in  a  sectarian  sense  can  never  be  rightfully 
promoted  in  schools  sustained  by  taxation  of  the  people  as  a  whole. 
Any  parent  who  pays  taxes  for  the  support  of  a  school  has  an  unimpeach- 
able right  to  object  to  any  teaching  in  that  school  which  tends  in  any 
way  to  wean  his  children  from  the  religious  teaching  they  receive  at 
home,  or  which  instils  in  their  minds  religious  views  of  which  the  parent 
does  not  approve.  But  the  same  objection  does  not  hold  in  regard  to 
teaching  morahty.  Unless  we  are  prepared  to  hold  that  a  man  ought 
to  be  free  to  practice  immoraUty  at  home  and  to  teach  his  children 
the  same,  we  must  allow  that  the  schools  supported  by  public  taxation 
have  a  right  to  teach  a  morahty  founded  on  the  great  principles  on  which 
all  right-thinking  men  are  agreed.  Indeed,  they  ought  to  do  so.  It  is 
just  as  proper  to  support  a  school  by  public  taxation  to  teach  morality 
as  it  is  to  support  a  court  by  public  taxation  to  enforce  morality.  And 
it  is  far  more  wise  to  train  children  in  public  schools  to  obey  the  laws 
and  conduct  themselves  as  good  citizens  than  to  spend  pubhc  funds  to 
restrain  them  from  evil-doing  after  they  have  been  allowed  to  grow  up 
in  ignorance  of  their  proper  duties  to  their  fellow-men  and  to  the  State. 
A  fair  and  reasonable  judgment  of  the  relations  of  citizens  to  the  State 
indicates  that  a  much  larger  attention  ought  to  be  given  in  schools  sup- 
ported by  public  funds  to  training  the  future  men  and  women  to  live 
for  public  welfare. 

Here  is  where  the  religious  press  finds  its  opportunity  in  regard  to 
the  pubhc  schools.  There  are  many  things  to  which  a  secular  paper 
cannot  object  without  alienating  a  portion  of  its  readers.  But  in  the 
field  of  morals  the  religious  journal  is  under  no  such  restrictions.  Some 
secular  papers  nobly  advocate  those  things  which  they  hold  to  be  right 
and  for  the  pubhc  good,  even  though  some  readers  may  be  displeased. 
The  religious  journal  carries  with  it  the  approval  and  enthusiasm  of  all 
its  constituency  in  its  most  strenuous  championship  of  high  standards 
of  morahty.  If  any  departure  from  these  standards  appears  in  the  man- 
agement of  the  public  schools  or  in  the  teaching  in  them,  the  rehgious 
paper  is  free  to  point  out  the  lapse  and  to  call  for  correction.  But 
especially  it  finds  a  large  and  important  field  in  insistence  on  greater 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  RELIGIOUS  PRESS  445 

provision  for  distinctively  moral  instruction  and  training  in  the  public 
schools.  IVIere  mental  education  only  makes  bad  men  and  evil  women 
more  dangerous  to  society.  To  have  good  men  and  good  women 
they  must  be  taught  and  trained  to  goodness  as  children.  It  is  a  fact, 
which  is  coming  to  be  more  and  more  recognized,  that  the  schools  for 
which  the  whole  people  are  taxed  are  not  doing  as  much  as  they  ought 
to  promote  that  morality  which  will  benefit  the  community.  The 
religious  press  is  a  most  powerful  agency  for  advocating  a  larger  place 
for  moral  teaching  in  the  public  schools. 


XV.    CORRESPONDENCE  INSTRUCTION 


CORRESPONDENCE  INSTRUCTION  AS  A  FACTOR  IN 
RELIGIOUS  CULTURE 

WILLIAM  A.  COLLEDGE,  D.D., 

DEAN    AMERICAN    SCHOOL    OF    CORRESPONDENCE    AT    ARMOUR    INSTITUTE   OF 
TECHNOLOGY,   CHICAGO 

Instruction  by  correspondence  is  a  phase  of  education  the  scope  and 
importance  of  which  few  but  those  who  are  actively  engaged  in  the  work 
apprehend.  This  form  of  education  is  carrying  a  message  of  culture 
and  training  to  men  and  women  who  at  this  hour  are  engaged  in  the 
activities  of  the  nation — active  workers  in  the  country's  trades  and  pro- 
fessions, where  training  and  technical  knowledge  are  necessary  to  pro- 
motion. The  average  correspondence  student  is  a  living,  breathing, 
working  unit  that  society  every  day  of  its  existence  has  to  reckon  with. 
For  this  reason,  instruction  by  correspondence  has  as  important  and 
responsible  a  mission  as  any  other  phase  of  education.  Its  province  is 
to  teach  men  and  women  who  are  self-supporting  units — who  are  taking 
an  active  part  in  the  struggle  of  existence. 

A  careful  study  of  the  work  of  the  Correspondence  School  with  which 
I  am  connected  has  led  to  the  following  general  classification  of  students: 
(i)  men  who  from  one  reason  or  another  have  been  deprived  of  the 
opportunity  of  training  and  education  in  youth  and,  realizing  their  need, 
are  anxious  to  spend  a  certain  amount  of  their  spare  time  in  self-improve- 
ment; (2)  men  possessed  of  the  student  spirit  who  desire  to  continue 
their  studies;  (3)  ambitious  wage-earners  in  the  shop,  factory,  or  store 
who  are  striving  to  gain  a  scientific  knowledge  of  their  trade  and  thus 
better  their  condition;  (4)  students  preparing  to  enter  college,  teachers 
or  professional  men  unable  to  attend  a  resident  school,  but  anxious  to 
take  advanced  work  in  some  special  study. 

The  average  correspondence  student  pays  his  money,  and  money 
is  not  too  plentiful  with  him.  If  he  neglects  his  studies  he  might  as  well 
have  thrown  his  money  away.  He  has,  therefore,  two  incentives  to 
work:  first,  ambition  to  better  his  condition;  and  second,  the  desire  to 
receive  full  value  for  what  he  has  paid.  A  large  proportion  of  the  stu- 
dents take  up  their  studies  with  an  earnestness  and  vigor  that  is  often- 
times a  surprise  to  their  instructors.  Of  course,  many  correspondence 
students  become  discouraged  and  drop  their  work.     This  is  usually  the 

446 


CORRESPONDENCE  INSTRUCTION  IN  RELIGION        447 

result  of  the  student  tiring  himself  out  studying.  A  man  after  a  hard 
day's  work  is  not  in  a  condition  to  spend  two  or  three  hours  studying. 
He  is  physically  tired;  his  mind  will  not  grasp  the  problems,  and  the 
chances  are  that  he  will  soon  become  discouraged.  On  the  other  hand, 
if  that  man  would  spend  one  half-hour  each  evening  in  earnest,  con- 
scientious work — if  he  would  concentrate  for  thirty  minutes  his  entire 
mental  strength  upon  his  lesson — he  would  be  surprised  at  the  progress 
he  would  make  and  the  pleasure  he  would  derive  from  his  studies; 
neither  would  he  run  any  risk  of  dropping  out. 

While  we  realize  that  instruction  by  means  of  correspondence  cannot 
equal  oral  instruction,  it  has,  nevertheless,  certain  evident  advantages 
worthy  of  an  educator's  consideration.  For  example,  in  many  resident 
schools,  the  students  are  too  often  crowded  together  in  a  class-room  and 
are  forced  to  make  the  same  progress  regardless  of  individual  ability 
or  aptness.  The  correspondence  student  is  in  a  class  by  himself.  He 
loses  no  time  through  those  who  are  dull  or  neglect  their  studies,  thus 
keeping  the  class  behind.  He  is  not  drawn  from  his  work  by  the  chat- 
tering of  other  pupils.  He  sits  in  his  own  quiet  room  with  his  books  or 
drawing  materials  before  him  and  works  out  his  problems  with  nothing 
to  take  his  attention  from  his  studies.  This  kind  of  study  develops 
self-reliance.  It  teaches  the  student  to  depend  upon  himself — to  take 
the  initiative.  At  the  moment  he  cannot  get  assistance;  he  must  bend 
his  own  mind  to  the  task  and  work  out  his  lessons  for  himself.  The  suc- 
cessful correspondence  student  naturally  develops  into  the  type  of  man 
who  knows,  and  knows  that  he  knows,  and  can  prove  it,  for  he  has 
learned  it  himself,  taking  time  to  master  thoroughly  every  point. 

One  of  the  weak  points  in  correspondence  instruction  usually  dwelt 
upon  is  the  lack  of  personal  touch  between  the  teacher  and  student,  but 
a  careful  investigation  of  this  point  will  bring  out  the  fact  that  the  average 
correspondence  student  really  receives  more  personal  attention  than  a 
casual  observer  is  apt  to  imagine.  Each  of  his  lessons  has  been  written 
by  a  teacher  who  has  kept  his  special  need  in  mind,  and  who  has  labored 
to  remove  any  possibilities  of  the  student  failing  to  grasp  the  principles 
underlying  the  problem,  thus  making  the  point  he  is  anxious  to  teach 
absolutely  clear.  This  the  teacher  does  by  regular  printed  blackboard 
work,  by  drawings,  and  by  little  extra  side  talks,  showing  how  principles 
may  be  applied  to  practical  work;  thus  each  lesson  is  a  text-book,  a 
lecture,  and  a  blackboard  exercise  combined.  These  lessons  provide 
for  an  examination  at  frequent  intervals,  which  keeps  the  student  in 
constant  touch  with  his  instructor. 

The  following  is  the  method  adopted  by  our  School  when  a  student 


448  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

enrols.  He  is  furnished  with  the  fiist  four  instruction  papers  of  his 
course,  together  with  full  information  how  to  proceed.  The  first 
instruction  paper  is  taken  up  and  studied  carefully  until  every  point  is 
thoroughly  mastered ;  then  he  writes  out  an  examination  which  he  mails 
to  the  school.  This  examination  paper  is  carefully  corrected,  criticised, 
and  graded  by  the  instructor.  The  student  in  the  meantime  is  working 
on  the  second  instruction  paper.  Should  he  meet  any  difficulty  in  his 
studies  which  he  cannot  surmount,  he  fills  out  an  inquiry  blank.  Upon 
this  blank  he  writes  the  number  of  the  problem  and  mails  it  to  the  School, 
receiving  in  reply  a  complete  blackboard  explanation  of  the  question 
which  he  was  unable  to  master.  This  blackboard  method  gives  the 
student  who  cannot  master  this  particular  problem  a  complete  demon- 
stration, showing  how  and  why  each  step  is  taken.  It  is  somewhat 
similar  to  the  blackboard  work  in  the  college  class-room,  but  has  this 
advantage  that  the  instructor's  demonstration  may  be  kept  and  referred 
to  at  any  time,  whereas  the  blackboard  work  is  soon  erased. 

One  of  the  most  important  features  of  correspondence  work  is  the 
instruction  papers.  The  instruction  papers  of  our  School  have  been 
prepared  specially  for  correspondence  work  by  engineers  and  teachers 
who,  through  long  practical  experience  and  training,  are  in  a  position 
to  know  the  needs  of  correspondence  students.  For  example,  the  instruc- 
tion paper  in  the  Electrical  course  on  "Storage  Batteries"  is  written  by 
Professor  Crocker,  of  Columbia  University,  one  of  the  foremost  authori- 
ties on  the  subject  in  the  United  States;  the  paper  on  "Refrigeration" 
is  by  Charles  Dickerman,  of  the  Pennsylvania  Iron  Works  Company; 
the  paper  on  "Rendering"  in  the  Architectural  course  is  by  David  A. 
Gregg,  of  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology.  These  papers 
are  frequently  revised  and  kept  up  to  date  in  the  best  and  latest  engineer- 
ing practice.  Each  subject  is  taken  up  from  the  beginning,  and  thor- 
ough explanations  are  given  in  a  clear  and  concise  manner.  These 
instruction  papers  average  about  eighty  pages  each,  are  neatly  bound, 
and  form  a  valuable  reference  work  for  the  student  after  the  comple- 
tion of  his  course. 

All  the  text-books  and  supplies  are  furnished  free  except  drawing 
instruments  and  blank  paper.  The  School  also  pays  the  postage  on  all 
letters  and  suppHes  mailed  to  the  student.  To  facilitate  the  student's 
progress  and  to  give  him  a  good  opportunity  for  reading,  study,  and 
reference  in  subjects  allied  to  his  course,  the  School  has  compiled  a 
library  of  ten  volumes  entitled  "Reference  Library  of  Modern  Engi- 
neering Practice."  For  every  mechanic  this  library  is  of  great  value  and 
supplies  in  a  concise  form  the  information  needed  to  meet  the  hundred 


CORRESPONDENCE  INSTRUCTION  IN  RELIGION        449 

and  one  practical  problems  arising  in  his  every-day  work.  The  instruc- 
tors of  the  correspondence  schools  do  not  confine  their  relations  with  the 
student  to  the  prescribed  studies  alone;  they  make  a  special  effort  to 
help  the  student  to  overcome  any  difficulties  he  may  meet  in  his  daily 
work.  Every  student  is  urged  to  communicate  to  the  School  any  prob- 
lems of  his  trade  that  may  give  him  trouble,  and  receive  advice  and 
assistance  from  the  School. 

I  can  think  of  nothing  that  would  so  further  the  interests  of  rehgious 
education  throughout  our  nation  as  a  powerful  organization  so  universal 
in  its  membership  as  the  Religious  Education  Association  at  the  head  of 
a  movement  for  religious  instruction  by  correspondence.  Take,  for 
example,  what  might  be  accomplished  in  our  Sunday  schools.  We  are 
all  aware  that  the  church  has  an  excellent  corps  of  Sunday-school  teach- 
ers— conscientious,  willing  workers,  who,  in  the  past,  have  done  yeoman 
service;  but,  as  a  rule,  the  majority  of  them  lack  the  proper  knowledge 
that  comes  through  systematic  instruction  in  religious  truth.  With 
well-equipped  teachers,  trained  not  only  in  the  Scriptures,  but  in  the 
most  effective  manner  of  imparting  truth,  the  Sunday  school  would 
become  ten  times  the  force  it  is  today  for  the  building  up  of  the  children 
of  the  church  in  the  faith. 

I  am  aware  that  the  majority  of  churches  have  Sunday-school 
teachers'  meetings,  where  the  lesson  is  interpreted  and  discussed;  but 
seventeen  years'  experience  as  a  worker  in  Sunday  schools  has  shown 
me  that,  in  the  large  majority  of  cases,  teachers'  meetings  are  not  a  suc- 
cess. The  attendance  is  irregular;  the  leader  is  occasionally  absent;  a 
dozen  different  things  arise  to  interfere  with  the  value  of  such  meetings 
from  the  point  of  view  of  religious  instruction.  On  the  other  hand, 
correspondence  instruction  offers  an  opportunity  for  a  thorough  ground- 
ing in  the  Scriptures,  their  historical  setting,  their  teachings.  A  course 
full  of  interest  and  value  for  Sunday-school  teachers  could  be  planned, 
the  influence  of  which  would  soon  be  noticed  in  the  more  thorough 
character  of  their  teaching.  A  teachers'  meeting  is  held  only  once  a 
week;  fifty  things  may  interfere  with  the  attendance,  but  the  instruction 
papers,  written  by  men  who  are  recognized  authorities  on  the  subjects 
about  which  they  write,  are  always  at  hand.  A  correspondence  course 
especially  prepared  for  the  Sunday-school  teacher  would  do  much  to 
solve  certain  problems  that  are  interfering  with  the  value  of  the  work 
accompHshed  in  our  Sunday  schools. 

It  is  also  true  that  there  are  a  large  number  of  lay  workers  in  the 
churches  who  intend  to  devote  their  lives  to  mission  work.  In  dozens 
of  such  cases  they  are  not  sufficiently  equipped  to  meet  the  educational 


450  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

demands  made  upon  them  by  those  whom  they  expect  to  instruct. 
Correspondence  instruction  is  the  only  form  of  education  by  which  this 
knowledge  can  be  brought  to  them.  Such  a  course  would  raise  their 
standard  of  scholarship,  enlarge  their  mental  and  spiritual  horizon, 
making  them  more  effective  workers  by  extending  their  capacity  for 
usefulness.  Correspondence  instruction  would  bring  to  the  lay  worker 
a  form  of  religious  culture  which  he  can  secure  in  no  other  way. 

Then  there  are  a  large  number  of  ministers,  many  of  whom  have 
been  compelled  to  shorten  their  courses  at  college;  others  who  are 
natural  students;  others  who  desire  to  take  up  some  special  line  of  work. 
The  need  of  this  class  cannot  be  met  by  any  other  form  of  teaching  than 
by  correspondence. 

In  the  Sunday-school  teacher  and  superintendent,  the  lay  worker, 
and  the  minister  I  see  an  unlimited  field  for  the  highest  and  best  kind  of 
instruction  by  correspondence.  There  is  also  as  large  an  opportunity 
among  the  class  that  would  take  up  correspondence  work  as  a  means 
of  religious  culture. 

It  may  be  presumptuous  of  me  to  make  any  further  suggestions; 
but  if  this  Association  becomes  sufficiently  interested  to  engage  in  a 
movement  of  this  character,  I  would  strongly  urge  the  consideration  of 
the  following : 

T.  A  carefully  worked-out  plan.  By  this  I  mean  a  study  of  the 
field  which  the  Association  intends  to  occupy;  a  clear  understanding  of 
the  needs  of  the  men  and  women  to  whom  this  work  must  appeal,  if  it  is 
to  be  successful,  so  that  the  Association  will  know  exactly  what  is  required 
to  carry  on  the  work,  before  any  promises  are  made  to  prospective 
students. 

2.  The  form  and  character  of  the  instruction  papers  and  the  careful 
selection  of  the  men  who  are  to  write  them.  These  papers  must  be 
prepared  from  the  view-point  of  the  correspondence  student — the  indi- 
vidual who  is  to  study  away  from  his  teacher.  Unless  the  author  thor- 
oughly believes  in  the  benefit  to  be  derived  from  correspondence  instruc- 
tion, his  composition  will  lack  that  sympathetic  human  element  which 
workers  in  correspondence  schools  have  found  in  the  most  successful 
instruction  papers.  This  department  of  correspondence  work  must 
be  thorough.  It  will  not  do  to  send  out  loose  sheets  or  typewritten 
lessons  to  the  students.  The  matter  must  not  be  hurriedly  thrown 
together  or  pieced  together  from  different  books,  no  matter  how  good 
the  books  may  be.  Instruction  papers,  to  produce  the  best  results — 
the  only  results  worth  having — must  be  printed  on  good  paper,  well 
bound,  with  artistic  illustrations  when  illustrations  are  necessary  to 


CORRESPONDENCE  INSTRUCTION  IN  RELIGION        451 

interpret  the  lessons,  and  prepared  with  the  special  needs  of  the  corre- 
spondence student  in  view,  by  men  whose  words  on  the  subject  dis- 
cussed are  authoritative. 

3.  A  thorough,  practical  system  of  handling  the  student;  not  a  mere 
piece  of  machinery,  but  a  system  capable  of  recognizing  the  personality 
of  the  student.  We  must  remember  that  the  instructor  is  dealing  with 
an  earnest  human  being — not  a  machine,  nor  an  abstract  problem. 
When  the  examination  papers  come  in,  they  should  not  only  be  cor- 
rected and  graded;  a  personal  letter  written  by  the  instructor,  giving 
advice  and  encouragement,  should  also  accompany  the  returned  exami- 
nation papers.  In  this  way  the  student  is  brought  into  close  touch 
with  his  teacher,  and  is  encouraged  to  persevere  in  his  studies.  No 
correspondence  instruction  can  be  successful  in- the  true  sense  without 
a  thoroughly  human  and  carefully  worked-out  system,  inspired  by  high 
educational  ideals. 


SCOPE  AND  METHOD  OF  THE  WORK  OF  THE  DEPART- 
MENT OF  CORRESPONDENCE  INSTRUCTION 

HERVEY  F.  MALLORY, 

SECRETARY  CORRESPONDENCE-STUDY  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO, 

CHICAGO 

It  is  not  within  the  vision  of  the  ReHgious  Education  Association  to 
set  in  operation  agencies  for  rehgious  education  which  dupHcate  or 
rival  those  which  ahready  exist,  but  rather  to  find  out  definitely  what 
these  different  forces  are  and  what  they  are  doing;  to  bring,  if  possible, 
the  weaker  and  less  organized  into  contact  with  the  more  vigorous;  to 
suggest  new  lines  of  usefulness ;  and  to  disseminate  as  widely  as  possible 
a  knowlege  of  the  work  conducted  by  these  agencies  and  of  the  help  that 
may  be  secured  from  them. 

The  object  of  this  Department  of  Correspondence  Instruction,  as 
stated  in  the  official  pubUcations  of  the  Association,  is  "to  promote  by 
correspondence  instruction  the  study  of  the  Bible  and  of  other  literature 
which  can  contribute  to  religious  education  and  to  higher  ethical  concep- 
tions and  development."     This  object  can  be  attained: 

1.  By  securing  and  maintaining  a  list  of  names  of  all  institutions 
which  profess  to  give  religious  and  moral  instruction  by  correspondence, 
so  classified  that  inquirers  can  be  directed  promptly  to  sources  of  help. 

2.  By  promoting  co-operation  and  the  interchange  of  opinion 
between   these  agencies. 

3.  By  endeavoring  to  have  new  courses  of  instruction  offered  from 
time  to  time  to  meet  demands. 

4.  By  encouraging  the  establishment  of  local  classes  for  the  study 
of  the  Bible  and  other  religious  literature. 

If  the  Department  undertakes  to  do  nothing  more  than  to  estabhsh 
and  maintain  a  bureau  of  information  where  one  can  learn  exactly  what 
opportunities  are  offered  and  how  to  improve  them,  it  will  render  a 
valuable  service.  Facilities  for  religious  study  by  correspondence  have 
existed  for  years.  One  need  not  leave  his  home  or  give  up  his  income 
in  order  to  derive  the  benefits  resulting  from  systematic  study  under 
competent  guidance.  Through  one  institution  he  can  undertake  the 
serious,  scholarly  study  of  the  languages  of  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ments and  of  related  tongues,  of  Bibhcal  History,  Literature,  and  Inter- 
pretation, of  individual  books  and  parts  of  books  in  the  canon,  of  Com- 
parative Religion  and  Sociology,  and  can  secure  training  in  exegetical 

452 


SCOPE  AND  METHOD  OF  THE  DEPARTMENT  453 

methods;  through  another  he  can  take  the  four-year  course  of  study 
prescribed  for  admission  to  the  ministry  in  one  of  our  great  denominations; 
another  institution  provides  training  for  lay  Christian  service;  and  still 
another  offers  unexcelled  opportunities  for  the  topical  study  of  the  Bible. 
This  is  far  from  an  exhaustive  list,  but  it  shows  clearly  that  means 
already  exist  for  satisfying  a  wide  variety  of  needs. 

Besides  the  necessary  work  of  classification,  inter-acquaintance 
among  the  various  agencies  should  be  encouraged.  This  can  be  accom- 
plished best  by  a  disinterested  organization  such  as  our  Department. 
Investigation  will  show  in  what  ways,  by  reason  of  its  equipment, 
method,  or  special  endowment,  each  school  excels,  and  will  point  the 
way  to  a  more  intelligent  and  more  effective  occupation  of  the  field. 

The  letters  coming  in  from  all  parts  of  the  country  and  from  all  the 
walks  of  life  will  furnish  data  for  determining  the  trend  of  religious 
interest  and  for  anticipating  demands.  By  endeavoring  to  secure  the 
offering  of  courses  of  instruction  which  will  develop  tendencies  that 
should  be  encouraged,  the  Department  can  exert  a  wholesome  construct- 
ive influence.  For  example,  just  now  there  seems  to  be  a  stirring  of  the 
bones  in  the  valley  of  Sunday-school  work.  There  is  a  restlessness  and 
dissatisfaction  with  existing  methods  and  results,  a  growing  conscious- 
ness that  there  must  be  a  scientific  understanding  of  the  child,  that  the 
findings  of  psychology  must  be  taken  into  account.  Practically  no 
opportunity  exists  at  present  whereby  the  individual  teacher  can  get 
personal  instruction  in  trying  to  solve  the  problem.  It  is  conditions  like 
this  that  the  Department  should  try  to  remedy. 

I  shall  mention  but  one  other  form  of  endeavor  which  we  may  legiti- 
mately undertake,  viz.,  that  of  directing  the  work  of  groups  of  individ- 
uals, clubs,  and  the  like.  In  the  organization  of  the  Religious  Educa- 
tion Association  it  appears  that  no  special  provision  has  been  made  for 
such  groups.  This  certainly  is  not  because  they  are  without  the  pale  of 
the  movement,  or  because  they  are  unimportant.  Perhaps  it  was 
intended  that  we  should  discover  and  rescue  these.  Wherever  can  be 
found  a  nucleus,  if  only  one  person,  with  sufficient  enthusiasm  to  get 
together  a  class,  the  Department  should  endeavor  to  find  someone  to 
direct  the  work,  either  in  person  or  by  correspondence  based  on  a  pro- 
gram of  study.  Here  we  can  co-operate  with  other  Departments  of  the 
Association. 

The  foregoing  are  only  a  few  of  the  lines  of  effort  which  properly  fall 
within  the  scope  of  this  Department,  but  it  is  believed  that  some  of  these 
lie  at  the  very  threshold  of  advance,  and  that  we  cannot  address  our- 
selves to  them  too  soon. 


454  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

Passing  from  a  consideration  of  the  scope  of  the  work  to  that  of  the 
methods  by  which  it  is  to  be  promoted,  the  following  suggest  them- 
selves: 

1.  Personal  correspondence. 

2.  Publication  and  distribution  of  the  results  of  special  investiga- 
tions, and  of  reports  from  time  to  time  on  the  progress  of  the  work. 

3.  Meetings  for  the  discussion  of  problems  and  possibiHties. 
During  the  past  year  the  writer  has  received  letters  from  several  who 

wished  to  ally  themselves  in  one  way  or  another  with  the  Department. 
So  far  as  possible,  they  have  been  directed  to  sources  of  information  and 
assistance,  but  there  has  always  been  a  sickening  suspicion  that  pare- 
goric instead  of  iron  may  have  been  prescribed.  There  was  no  religious 
pharmacopoeia  to  which  reference  could  be  made. 

By  "personal  correspondence"  we  mean  that  required  to  bring  and 
keep  student  and  instructor  or  problem  and  investigator  together.  The 
proper  treatment  of  this  class  of  correspondence  will  demand  time, 
thought,  and  devotion.  Printed  forms  may  be  used  to  some  extent, 
but  by  far  the  largest  part  of  the  correspondence  must  always  be  par- 
ticular and  personal.  At  the  outset,  at  least,  it  is  especially  important 
that  inquiries  receive  individual  attention.  In  the  nature  of  the  case, 
other  Departments  will  foster  this  more  than  it  will  contribute  to  them 
in  return.  It  is  safe  to  predict  that  the  core  of  the  majority  of  communi- 
cations received  by  the  different  Departments  from  the  outside  will  be, 
"How  can  I  become  more  eflEcient  in  a  religious  way  as  a  parent, 
common-school  teacher,  Sunday-school  superintendent,  etc.  ?"  and  that 
the  gist  of  the  reply  will  be  or  should  be,  "Perhaps  by  enrolling  in  some 
one  of  the  courses  of  instruction  about  which  information  can  be  given 
you  by  the  Department  of  Correspondence  Instruction." 

The  Department  will  not  discharge  its  whole  duty  or  realize  the  full 
measure  of  its  usefulness  by  simply  introducing  student  to  teacher  or 
investigator  to  problem  and  dropping  him  there.  It  must  keep  in  touch 
with  these  workers.  In  the  stress  of  twentieth-century  life,  when  one  has 
to  load  the  safety  valve  to  accomplish  the  tale  of  work,  it  will  not  be  sur- 
prising if  the  student  faints  at  his  task  or  the  instructor  neglects  his 
pupil.  This  occurs  sometimes  in  schools,  where  there  is  the  stimulus 
of  viva-voce  instruction  and  fixed  hours  for  recitation.  Separate  the 
desk  and  the  bench  by  a  thousand  miles,  and  substitute  the  tardy  pen 
for  the  limber  tongue,  and  you  have  imposed  conditions  which  posi- 
tively demand  supervision,  if  definite  educational  results  are  to  be 
secured.  That  such  results  can  be  secured  through  the  correspondence 
method  of  instruction  does  not  need  to  be  demonstrated.     Experience 


SCOPE  AND  METHOD  OF  THE  DEPARTMENT  455 

has  proved  that  it  is  a  most  efficient  educational  factor.  Indeed,  it  can 
be  shown  that  at  certain  stages  of  the  study  of  some  subjects  better 
results  can  be  obtained  in  this  way  than  by  ordinary  class-room  method. 
The  accurate  and  well-balanced  grasp  of  the  subject  of  study,  the  devel- 
opment of  initiative  and  independence,  the  privilege  of  doing  all  the 
collateral  reading,  of  receiving  personal  instruction  on  the  whole  of 
every  lesson,  and  of  postponing  recitation  until  able  mentally  and 
physically  to  do  one's  self  justice — these  are  distinctive  advantages  of 
this  method. 

With,  therefore,  an  adequate  method,  able  and  devoted  instructors 
(as  they  certainly  will  be  who  consent  to  undertake  these  exacting  duties), 
and  an  earnest  body  of  students,  three  of  the  factors  which  condition 
success  are  assured ;  the  fourth — perseverance  on  the  part  of  the  student, 
and  prompt  attention  to  the  work  submitted  by  the  student  on  the  part 
of  the  instructor — is  the  only  one  which  need  concern  us.  To  insure 
this  will  require  much  personal  correspondence. 

In  what  has  been  said  concerning  method,  only  one  feature  of  the 
work  of  the  Department  has  been  in  mind — the  handling  of  students. 
Without  question  this  is  the  distinguishing  and  chief  phase  of  our  activity. 
But,  as  has  been  indicated,  there  are  other  functions  which  the 
Department  can  perform  and,  in  so  doing,  truly  realize  its  object.  Fore- 
most among  these  is  the  pubHcation  of  the  results  of  research  and  of  the 
special  investigation  of  religious  conditions  and  problems  which  confront 
us.  Work  of  this  sort  appeals  to  a  type  of  mind  superior  to  that  of  the 
ordinary  student.  We  shall  be  able  to  enlist  the  services  of  those  who 
will  add  strength  to  our  undertaking.  Before  any  considerable  advance 
can  be  made  there  is  ground  to  be  cleared  which  demands  the  labor  of 
experts. 

A  menace  to  the  efficiency  of  our  work  lies  in  the  difficulty  of  getting 
together  as  officers  for  consultation  and  deliberation,  and  of  meeting 
with  the  representatives  of  different  organizations  with  which  we  are  co- 
operating. This  obstacle  can  be  overcome  in  a  measure  by  frequent 
correspondence  and  the  interchange  of  reports,  but  nothing  can  take 
the  place  of  face-to-face  acquaintance  and  discussion.  Special  effort 
must  be  put  forth  to  bring  about  such  conferences. 

It  has  been  impossible  to  present  more  than  an  outline  treatment  of 
the  scope  and  method  of  the  Department's  work.  Details  can  be  formu- 
lated only  after  a  full  discussion  and  a  careful  canvass  of  the  situation. 
The  vital  importance  of  the  subject  will  commend  it  to  early  and  earnest 
consideration. 


DISCUSSION 
PRESIDENT  VICTOR  C.  ALDERSON, 

COLORADO  SCHOOL  OF  MINES,  GOLDEN,  COLORADO 

A  salient  feature  that  must  be  considered  in  connection  with  instruc- 
tion by  correspondence  is  that  the  relations  between  school  and  student 
are  turned  end  for  end.  The  ordinary  teacher  labors  under  the  delusion, 
fostered  by  many  years  of  experience  and  crystallized  by  habit,  that  the 
student  must  go  to  school  in  order  to  be  taught.  Corrrespondence 
instruction  turns  this  arrangement  squarely  about  and  sends  the  essen- 
tials of  the  school  to  the  student,  wherever  he  may  be.  This  revolution- 
ary idea — first  tried,  I  believe,  in  Pennsylvania  as  an  aid  to  miners  pre- 
paring to  be  examined  for  a  state  license — has  been  developed  so  that 
today  almost  any  subject  from  electric  wiring,  through  nursing,  modern 
languages,  and  engineering,  up  to  university  courses  in  nearly  every 
field  of  study,  can  be  studied  by  correspondence.  And  this  is  not 
strange.  We  learn  from  books.  Correspondence  instruction  is  merely 
a  new  adaptation  of  the  printed  page  of  the  book  to  the  needs  of  the 
individual. 

This  new  idea  of  instruction  is  used  by  persons  in  all  walks  of  life. 
The  fresh  college  graduate  teaching  in  a  small  high  school  may  be  com- 
pelled, by  the  exigencies  of  the  case,  to  teach  a  class  in  English  history. 
He  may  have  had  a  good  college  course  and  be  well  trained,  but  he  has 
not  studied  that  particular  subject  with  reference  to  teaching  it.  He 
cannot  return  to  college,  and  the  ordinary  text-books  do  not  give  him 
what  he  wants.  His  only  recourse  is  to  study  the  subject  by  correspond- 
ence in  a  university.  He  thus  comes  into  close  touch  with  a  specialist. 
The  salient  features  are  pointed  out  to  him;  the  best  authorities  are 
given  him;  and  he  can,  by  his  own  efforts,  become  conversant  with  the 
subject  and  conduct  his  class  successfully.  In  the  same  way  a  Sunday- 
school  teacher  or  a  superintendent  may  secure  Biblical  instruction  that 
will  reinforce  his  work. 

The  pecuhar  feature  of  correspondence  instruction  that  will  make  it  a 
strong  element  in  educational  work  is  that  it  enables  the  individual 
student,  no  matter  where  he  may  be  located,  as  long  as  the  mail  reaches 
him,  to  receive  the  aid  and  suggestion  of  the  ablest  experts  in  the  field 
of  his  chosen  subject.  In  this  age,  when  the  study  of  the  Bible  needs  to 
be  greatly  increased,  any  agency  that  will  bring  the  earnest  student  close 
to  a  master  mind  and  will  give  him  an  inspiration  for  Biblical  study 
cannot  but  be  of  great  service. 

4S6 


XVI.    SUMMER  ASSEMBLIES 


SUMMER  SCHOOLS  AND  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

PROFESSOR  GEORGE  E.  VINCENT,  Ph.D., 

THE   UNIVERSITY   OF   CHICAGO,   CHICAGO 

If  we  include  all  summer  sessions  from  that  of  the  University  to  the 
ten-day  "Chautauqua"  at  the  end  of  a  trolley  line,  there  were  about  two 
hundred  and  fifty  centers  in  activity  during  July  and  August,  1903.  Of 
these  approximately  one-fourth  may  be  classed  wholly  or  in  part  as 
Schools;  i.  e.,  as  offering  formal  courses  of  class  instruction  under 
teachers  of  recognized  status.  The  remainder  belong  to  the  class  of 
Assemblies  in  which  the  program  of  popular  lectures,  concerts,  and 
entertainments  is  the  real  center,  despite  a  pedagogic  penumbra  of 
classes  in  cookery,  burnt  wood,  and  elocution.  The  total  also  includes 
a  few  summer  meetings  of  another  type  devoted  especially  to  Biblical 
and  religious  themes  usually  approached  in  a  devotional  or  evangelistic 
spirit. 

The  summer  school,  whether  alone  or  combined  with  Assembly 
features,  is  frequented  (i)  by  instructors  and  teachers — they  are  in 
overwhelming  majority — in  public  and  private  colleges  and  schools;  (2) 
by  teachers  of  art,  music,  elocution,  etc.;  and  (3)  by  persons — a  small 
minority,  chiefly  women — seeking  culture  and  accomplishment. 

The  Assembly  with  its  popular  lectures  and  entertainments  attracts 
another  kind  of  constituency.  If  the  session  is  long  and  the  summer 
colony  is  isolated,  there  are  many  cottagers — whole  families  in  residence 
for  the  season,  with  week-end  visits  from  busy  fathers  and  elder  brothers; 
there  are  day  incursions  from  the  vicinity  when  prominent  speakers  or 
special  attractions  are  announced.  If  the  Assembly  has  a  brief  session  in 
the  country,  there  will  be  campers  and  daily  shifting  throngs.  Or  when 
the  meetings  are  held  in  a  suburban  park,  there  will  be  a  small  and  lonely 
nucleus  of  the  faithful  by  day  with  large  crowds  at  night.  In  most  of 
these  places  there  are  headquarters  for  club  women,  reading-circles, 
the  W.  C.  T.  U.,  usually  daily  conferences,  a  university-extension  course 
or  two,  forums,  and  round-tables.  Here  too  are  earnest  people — 
mothers  seeking  light  upon  the  problems  of  their  homes;  club  women 
eager  for  new  ideas  in  club  programs,  civic  improvement,  and  other 
social  service;  teachers  in  day  schools  and  Sunday  schools  looking  for 

457 


4S8  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

suggestions  and  devices,  if  not  for  principles;  country  ministers  enjoying 
contact  with  the  outside  world  and  gathering  material  for  homiletic 
dilution  during  the  coming  winter;  ambitious,  isolated  souls  groping  for 
larger  ideals  and  wider  personality;  young  people  not  quite  sure  about 
going  to  college;  tremulous  old  men,  reminiscent  and  yet  alert  and 
fond  of  listening  to  the  "spellbinder" — a  great  .company,  perhaps  a 
half-million  strong.  To  the  cynical,  unsympathetic  observer  the  domi- 
nant notes  of  these  Assemblies  seem  to  be  amusement,  recreation, 
"inspiration  and  uplift"  such  as  come  from  the  lyceum  orator  and 
the  evangelistic  exhorter,  education  in  public  questions  derived  from  a 
congressman  or  a  state  senator.  Yet  he  who  flippantly  ridicules  the 
Assembly  even  of  the  cheapest  and  most  vulgar  type  fails  wholly  to 
detach  from  the  tawdry  and  paltry  details  the  underlying  service,  actual 
and  potential,  of  this  institution.  It  is  obvious,  however,  that  the 
crowds  are  not  gathered  for  severely  intellectual  tasks,  and  melt  away 
quickly  when  any  tax  is  made  upon  attention. 

In  the  case  of  the  specifically  religious  and  Biblical  gatherings, 
the  attendance  is  in  direct  ratio  to  the  emphasis  laid  upon  the  spiritual 
and  emotional  aspects  of  the  themes  presented.  This  is  quite  to  be 
expected  as  the  expression  of  a  well-recognized  principle  of  human 
nature  which  is  by  no  means  confined  to  the  religious  field.  The  large 
attendance  of  ministers  and  Christian  workers  is  also  to  be  attributed 
in  some  measure  to  the  perfectly  natural  and  commendable  desire  to 
gamer  suggestions  for  use  in  their  own  pulpits  and  classes.  A  few 
summer  centers  combine  schools  of  recognized  standing  with  the  Assem- 
bly and  Bible  Conference  ideas.  In  this  way  communities  are  created 
each  of  which  has  a  certain  individuality  and  has  gradually  created  its 
own  constituency.  So  much  by  way  of  brief  survey  and  characterization 
seems  essential  to  any  vivid  picture  of  the  Summer  School  and  the 
Assembly. 

What  are  these  centers  already  doing  to  stimulate  religious  and 
ethical  education,  and  how  may  their  work  be  rendered  more  effective  ? 
The  summer  schools  of  the  academic  and  pedagogic  types  do  little 
or  nothing  in  the  way  of  specific  religious  and  ethical  instruction.  The 
Harvard  Summer  School  of  Theology,  courses  in  religious  psychology 
at  Clark  University,  instruction  in  Biblical  literature  at  the  University 
of  Chicago  and  in  a  few  other  university  summer  sessions,  and  courses  on 
religious  teaching  at  Columbia,  are  the  chief  exceptions  to  be  noted. 
It  is  also  true  that  at  many  schools  of  pedagogics,  lectures  on  child  study, 
adolescence  and  its  religious  significance,  moral  education,  the  use 
of  Bible  stories,  concrete  problems  such  as  lying,  stealing,  the  use  of 


SUMMER  SCHOOLS  AND  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION       459 

money  by  children,  etc.,  have  been  given  of  late  in  increasing  numbers. 
These  beginnings  will  doubtless  lead  to  further  extensions  in  many  direc- 
tions, but  as  these  problems  belong  primarily  to  the  Council  of  Religious 
Education  and  the  Department  of  Universities  and  Colleges,  we  may 
only  mention  them  as  bearing  in  an  important  way  on  the  Assembly 
as  well  as  on  the  Summer  School. 

The  Assembly  idea  is  recognized  as  originating  with  Chautauqua, 
just  as  the  Bible  Conference  is  associated  with  Northfield.  Chautauqua 
was  established  in  1874  with  the  avowed  purpose  of  furthering  religious 
education  by  affording  a  wider  outlook  and  a  better  training  for  Sunday- 
school  teachers  and  for  parents.  The  summer  school  as  early  as  1879 
began  to  develop  out  of  this  germ,  and  the  reading-circle  was  estab- 
Ushed  in  1878  as  a  logical  expansion  of  the  original  purpose.  These  later 
plans  were  so  successful  that  they  tended  to  overshadow  the  specifically 
religious  and  Biblical  element  which  has  always  been  and  is  increas- 
ingly an  essential  factor  in  the  Chautauqua  work. 

In  the  early  years  emphasis  was  laid  on  Biblical  geography  and 
institutions.  The  well-known  models  of  Palestine  and  Jerusalem,  and 
the  oriental  house,  belonged  to  this  period.  Classes  were  conducted  in 
Biblical  history  and  literature,  conferences  on  teaching  methods  were 
held,  the  organization  and  administration  of  Sunday  schools  were  dis- 
cussed. A  number  of  small  text-books  were  prepared  for  use  in  these 
classes  as  well  as  for  home  reading.  The  course  was  soon  systematized, 
and  a  "Normal  Class"  has  been  graduated  every  year  since  1874.  A 
boys'  and  girls'  class  for  training  in  Biblical  history  was  conducted  for 
many  years.  In  1883  Biblical  instruction  of  a  more  scholarly  type  was 
introduced.  These  courses  have  been  continued  ever  since.  In  1893 
the  School  of  Religious  Pedagogy  was  organized.  This  unified  the 
various  religious  courses.  Later  (1899)  instruction  in  religious  psy- 
chology and  religious  pedagogy  was  added.  Although  experts  were 
in  charge  of  these  courses,  the  attendance  was  too  small  to  warrant  a 
continuance.  In  1902  and  1903  a  school  of  Sunday-school  methods — 
a  week's  session  instead  of  the  three  or  six  weeks'  term  of  the  other 
courses — was  conducted  by  a  corps  of  experienced  and  progressive 
teachers  with  a  fair  attendance  of  interested  and  faithful  students. 
In  1895  the  morning  Devotional  Hour,  which  as  an  open  prayer-meeting 
had  languished,  was  changed  in  character.  For  each  week  a  strong 
man  was  put  in  charge  to  deliver  a  series  of  five  addresses  on  a  Biblical, 
religious,  or  ethical  theme.  This  exercise  has  steadily  grown  in  favor. 
It  evidently  meets  a  recognized  need  and  exerts  a  marked  influence.  In 
a  given  season  eight  men  of  intelUgence,  insight,  and  spiritual  power 


46o  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

conduct  forty  services  which  are  informing  and  inspiring  without  appeal- 
ing unduly  to  emotion.  Again,  every  Sunday  morning  at  nine  a  large 
audience  gathers  to  listen  to  a  study  conducted  by  some  recognized 
master  in  the  field  of  Biblical  scholarship.  The  problems  of  religious 
and  moral  education  are  frequently  discussed  in  parents'  conferences 
and  at  the  Woman's  Club.  In  1903  seven  special  conferences  were 
held,  in  which  a  half-dozen  of  the  best-known  experts  in  the  field  of 
religious  education  took  part.  Impressive  services  on  Sunday,  song 
services,  oratorios,  illustrated  lectures  on  sacred  art,  all  aid  in  creating 
an  atmosphere  which  is  sanely  and  wholesomely  religious  and  which 
fosters  an  ethical  idealism.  The  larger  social  meaning  of  religion  is 
constantly  emphasized  in  lectures,  addresses,  and  conferences  which 
point  out  the  practical  appUcations  of  Christian  ethics  to  current 
problems. 

Of  the  nearly  two  hundred  Assemblies  which  have  in  varying 
degrees  modeled  themselves  on  Chautauqua,  a  small  group  have  faith- 
fully held  to  the  idealism  of  the  movement.  In  these  assemblies  there 
is  always  a  "Bible  Hour"  and  often  a  "Normal  Class."  In  co-operation 
with  the  American  Institute  of  Sacred  Literature  a  dozen  Assembhes 
in  1903  conducted  Bible  courses  which  were  in  the  hands  of  well-trained 
and  competent  teachers.  A  large  number  of  other  Assemblies — fully 
half — maintained  some  kind  of  Biblical  or  Sunday-school  work  con- 
ducted by  well-meaning  but  untrained  persons.  The  rest  of  the  Assem- 
blies, although  not  providing  regular  Biblical  instruction,  scheduled 
religious  exercises  of  some  kind.  It  would  be  a  serious  oversight  not 
to  mention,  and  even  to  emphasize,  the  influence  spiritual  and  ethical 
of  many  of  the  able  and  high-minded  men  and  women  who  speak  from 
these  Assembly  platforms  to  thousands  of  impressionable  people. 

It  may  be  well  to  sum  up  the  experience  of  Chautauqua  and  the 
Assemblies  of  the  original  type  with  reference  to  Biblical  and  rehgious 
work: 

1.  The  public  is  reluctant  to  pay  fees  for  religious  or  Biblical  instruc- 
tion. The  feeling  that  in  some  way  the  gospel  should  be  free  is  curiously 
extended  by  verbal  suggestion  to  include  even  Biblical  courses  of  a  liter- 
ary type.  The  fact  that  Sunday-school  teachers  work  without  salary 
has  undoubtedly  some  bearing  on  this  point. 

2.  Of  the  Assembly  as  distinguished  from  the  Summer-School 
constituency  a  very  small  minority  are  capable  of  the  sustained  attention 
which  genuine  study  of  facts  and  principles  demands.  The  appeal 
to  the  emotions  makes  for  numbers  and  enthusiasm. 

3.  The  vast  majority  are  seeking  something  practical.     The  Sunday- 


SUMMER  SCHOOLS  AND  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION        461 

school  teacher  wants  devices,  programs,  symbols,  etc.;  the  mother  is 
eager  for  advice  about  the  difficult  boy  or  girl;  the  minister  seeks  texts 
and  outlines  and  illustrations,  etc. 

4.  With  a  few  exceptions,  the  Sunday-school  teachers  at  the  smaller 
Assemblies  are  likely  to  assume  that  the  International  Lesson  System 
is,  in  principle  at  least,  a  final  curriculum. 

5.  The  personality  of  the  teacher  is  of  paramount  importance.  He 
must  do  nine-tenths  of  the  work,  awaken  interest,  inspire  enthusiasm, 
implant  suggestion,  foster  perseverance. 

6.  A  majority  are  earnest  and  receptive,  responding  freely  and  fully 
to  the  wise  teachers  and  tactful  methods. 

7.  In  every  Assembly  constituency  there  are  a  few  rare  people,  lead- 
ers in  their  communities,  ambitious,  capable,  progressive.  Through 
these  men  and  women  widespread  influences  are  being  exerted. 

Inasmuch  as  Summer  Schools  of  Sunday-school  methods  are 
described  in  the  following  paper,  it  is  unnecessary  to  do  more  than  men- 
tion them  here.  These  Schools  have  often  been  held  in  places  which  are 
under  Assembly  control,  but  in  origin  and  development  they  get  their 
impulses  from  Sunday-school  Associations.  Under  the  same  auspices 
many  Institutes  are  conducted  often  in  the  summer  and  in  connection 
with  Assemblies. 

No  sketch  of  summer  meetings  of  a  religious  character  can  omit 
the  work  of  Northfield,  Winona,  Lake  Geneva,  and  several  less  promi- 
nent gatherings  of  similar  plan  and  purpose.  When  Mr.  Moody  invited 
to  Northfield  college  students  of  Christian  profession,  he  recognized 
their  need  for  emotional  stimulus.  The  response  he  evoked  from 
these  students  was  noteworthy.  The  plan  was  later  extended  to  include 
college  women.  The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  was  invited 
to  co-operate.  Other  conferences  for  ministers  and  laymen  had  already 
been  instituted.  Mr.  Moody's  sane,  winning,  devoted  personality  and 
the  leaders  whom  he  summoned  to  his  aid  found  in  the  men  and  women 
who  attended  these  conferences  a  means  of  mediating  their  influence  in 
a  wide-reaching  way.  Gradually  these  meetings  have  established  them- 
selves in  the  lives  of  hundreds  through  whom  thousands  are  constantly 
being  affected.  The  conferences  are  continued  under  the  charge  of  Mr. 
Moody's  son,  who  is  assisted  by  prominent  ministers  and  lay  workers. 
The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  has  adopted  this  Bible  Confer- 
ence plan,  and  holds  annual  gatherings  both  at  Northfield  and  at  Lake 
Geneva  in  Wisconsin.  The  most  notable  development  of  the  Northfield 
idea  is  the  conference  founded  a  few  years  ago  by  Rev.  J.  Wilbur  Chap- 
man at  Winona  Lake,  Ind.    Last  August  the  attendance  was  estimated 


462  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

at  three  thousand,  chiefly  ministers  who  assembled  eagerly  to  hear 
sermons  and  addresses  by  famous  evangeUsts  and  other  ministers  of 
many  evangeUcal  churches.  This  is  by  far  the  largest  distinctly  reli- 
gious summer  meeting  in  the  United  States,  and  probably  outnumbers 
the  Keswick  meetings  in  England.  The  significance  of  the  North- 
field- Winona  movement  lies  in  the  fact  that  it  stands  in  the  main  for 
the  traditional  view  of  the  Scriptures,  and  lays  stress  upon  the  subjec- 
tive side  of  religious  experience.  It  promotes  Bible  study  from  the 
devotional  rather  than  from  the  scholarly  or  literary  standpoint,  and 
it  urges  steadily  the  importance  of  vivid  personal  religious  experience. 
The  fact  that  these  notes  awaken  a  large  popular  response,  while  more 
intellectual  views  seem  far  less  attractive,  may  be  interpreted  in  several 
ways,  but  those  who  are  to  deal  with  rehgious  education  in  Assembly 
work  may  ponder  the  situation  with  much  profit.  The  truth  of  social 
psychology  that  the  average  man  gets  his  ideas,  not  by  reflection,  but 
by  suggestion,  and  is  controlled,  not  by  logic,  but  by  feeling,  gets  practi- 
cal illustration  in  the  summer  Assembly  field.  The  problem  is  to  sug- 
gest truths  and  to  fix  them  in  character  by  imbedding  them  in  feeling. 
To  overvalue  reflection  and  to  neglect  sentiment  is  a  danger  into  which 
certain  religious  teachers  fall  in  trying  to  counteract  the  tendency  of 
others  to  decry  reason  and  to  exalt  emotion.  The  desideratum  is  "a 
religion  that  is  deeply  founded  in  feeling,  a  religion  that  is  clearly  illu- 
mined with  intelligence." 

In  suggesting  principles  and  policies  for  the  extension  and  enrich- 
ment of  religious  education  in  the  Summer  School  and  Assembly  field 
it  will  be  useful  to  make  a  threefojd  classification  of  these  institutions 
into:  (i)  Assemblies  of  which  the  ten-day  or  fortnight  session  with  a 
popular  program,  a  few  classes  and  a  local  constituency  is  the  type;  (2) 
Summer  School  Assemblies  with  six-  or  eight-week  sessions,  systematic 
instruction  in  a  wide  range  of  subjects,  a  popular  program,  and  an 
attendance  representing  a  large  section  of  the  country;  (3)  Summer 
Schools,  including  the  summer  sessions  of  colleges  and  universities,  and 
other  institutions  confining  themselves  almost  wholly  to  formal  academic 
and  professional  work. 

It  is  obvious  that  different  problems  are  to  be  encountered  in  each 
of  these  groups,  and  that  different  methods  must  be  adopted  in  each. 
The  Assembly  and  the  University  seem  to  have  little  or  nothing  in  com- 
mon; the  intermediate  group  really  occupies  half-way  ground.  The 
average  Assembly  is  more  than  willing  to  provide  a  place  and  at  least  a 
small  appropriation  for  a  Biblical  teacher.  The  experience  of  the 
American  Institute  of  Sacred  Literature  all  goes  to  prove  such  willing- 


SUMMER  SCHOOLS  AND  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION        463 

ness  which  many  times  becomes  a  positive  demand.  The  real  difficulty 
lies  in  finding  enough  men  fitted  for  Assembly  work.  For  here  person- 
ality is  of  vital  importance.  Materials  and  methods  must  be  wholly 
subordinated  to,  or  rather  incorporated  in,  the  teacher.  It  is  not 
Utopian  to  emphasize  the  essential  elements  which  the  successful  Assem- 
bly worker  must  possess  in  such  measure  as  his  individuality  permits. 
There  are  several  men  whose  eminently  wise  and  inspiring  service  in 
this  field  both  suggests  this  analysis  and  proves  that  these  ideals  are  not 
unattainable. 

1.  Scholarship.  Familiarity  with  the  methods  and  spirit  of  his- 
torical Biblical  study  is  essential.  Furthermore,  some  exact  knowledge 
of  the  principles  of  psychology,  pedagogy,  ethics,  and  social  science  is 
practically  indispensable,  because  the  Assembly  worker  has  a  many- 
sided  and  not  a  specialized  function.  He  must  be  teacher,  preacher, 
conference  conductor,  service  leader,  all  in  one. 

2.  Adaptability.  Wisdom,  insight,  tact,  are  qualities  to  be  empha- 
sized. There  must  be  no  parade  of  the  technique  and  terminology  of 
scholarship,  no  overemphasis  of  critical  conclusions.  The  Assembly 
teacher  must  be  a  popularizer  in  the  best  sense  of  that  term;  i.  e.,  he  must 
select  fundamental  ideas,  conceive  them  clearly  himself,  and  put  them 
into  plain  English  with  familiar,  concrete  illustration.  In  this  he  will 
be  successful  just  in  so  far  as  he  has  sympathy,  i.  e.,  is  able  to  look  at 
life  and  its  problems  through  the  eyes  of  those  with  whom  he  deals. 

3.  Enthusiasm.  Without  a  vivid  sympathetic  imagination  and  a 
warm  and  steady  glow  of  feeling,  the  Assembly  teacher  will  fail  to  arouse 
that  personal  response  and  loyalty  which  bear  testimony  to  effective 
leadership.  Knowledge,  training,  and  tact  are  ineffective  unless  they 
are  vitalized  by  sound  and  sustained  em.otion. 

4.  Spiritual  power.  But  this  emotion  must  have  other  sources  than 
those  of  temperament  and  sympathy.  Deep,  vital,  religious  experience 
and  idealism  are  conditions  of  true  and  enduring  service  in  the  Assembly 
field  as  elsewhere.  Unless  larger  views  of  truth  are  made  constructive 
and  positive,  and  are  appropriated  by  feeling  for  purposes  of  higher 
living,  why  molest  tradition  ? 

But  someone  may  urge  that  these  same  qualities  are  demanded  by 
the  pastorate  and  other  fields  of  activity.  True,  but  the  peculiar  con- 
ditions of  Assembly  service,  the  brevity  of  the  session,  the  changing  of 
the  audiences,  the  distractions  of  the  program,  the  abnormal  tension 
in  the  group,  all  combine  to  require  an  unusual  combination  and  a  high 
degree  of  capacity  in  these  things.  Granted  that  there  are  few  men  of 
this  general  type,  how  is  their  number  to  be  increased  ?     Obviously 


464  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

natural  ability  and  temperament  are  the  basis  for  success,  but  training 
may  do  much.  Many  institutions,  universities,  colleges,  seminaries, 
are  doing  valuable  fundamental  work;  but  special  equipment  and 
experience  in  the  field  are  necessary  for  the  discovery  and  development 
of  peculiar  ability. 

The  Summer  School  Assembly  may  be  of  service  at  this  point.  This 
institution,  with  its  longer  sessions,  its  larger,  more  diversified  constit- 
uency, its  ampler  funds,  is  able  to  employ  specialized  service  and 
afford  a  better  training.  To  the  Assembly  features  of  popular  Bible 
hours,  devotional  meetings,  conferences,  and  round-tables  are  added 
regular  courses  in  Bible  study,  and  sometimes  in  religious  psychology 
and  pedagogy.  These  agencies  might  easily  be  combined  into  training 
courses  for  Assembly  workers.  Even  now,  in  an  informal,  haphazard 
way  some  such  results  are  secured. 

Again,  the  Summer  School  Assembly  offers  a  favorable  opportunity 
for  the  adaptation  of  the  Bible  Conference  idea  to  the  needs  of  religious 
education,  conceived  in  the  broad  spirit  of  the  ReHgious  Education 
Association.  A  summer  session  of  ten  days  devoted  to  the  varied  treat- 
ment of  such  a  theme  as  "The  Bible  in  Modern  Life"  would  under  the 
right  conditions  give  a  great  impetus  to  the  ideals  for  which  this  Associa- 
tion stands.  The  program  should  include  such  general  exercises  as: 
(i)  a  daily  exegetical  Bible  study;  (2)  a  daily  religious  service;  (3)  a 
course  of  lectures  on  religious  psychology;  (4)  a  course  of  lectures  or 
interpretative  recitals  on  the  Bible  as  literature;  (5)  a  series  of  addresses 
and  conferences  on  the  practical  application  of  Biblical  ideals  to  contem- 
porary problems ;  (6)  evening  exercises  consisting  of  oratorios,  illustrated 
lectures  on  sacred  art,  readings  from  the  Bible,  etc.  In  section  confer- 
ences many  special  problems  could  be  discussed  by  Sunday-school 
teachers,  parents,  ministers,  and  others. 

The  general  aim  of  such  a  session  would  be  to  present  a  well-balanced 
program  which  would  recognize  the  many  different  aspects  of  rehgious 
truth,  and  keep  a  sane  and  normal  relation  between  scholarship  and 
spirituality.  The  time  is  auspicious  for  such  a  conference,  and  the 
Summer  School  Assembly  offers  a  favorable  environment. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  Summer  Schools  will  gradually  include  in 
their  curricula  courses  to  which  the  more  advanced  and  better-trained 
religious  workers  may  resort  in  large  numbers.  In  the  nature  of  things, 
these  academic  institutions  cannot  reach  the  popular  crowds;  but  they 
may  foster  that  reverent,  constructive  scholarship  which  is  essential 
for  those  chosen  few  who  are  to  be  the  leaders  and  teachers  of  the  many. 
Thus  influences  will  go  out  from  the  center  to  the  circumference. 


SUMMER   SCHOOLS   OF   SUNDAY-SCHOOL   METHODS 

MISS  JOSEPHINE  L.  BALDWIN, 

SUPERINTENDENT  ELEMENTARY  WORK,  NEW  JERSEY  STATE  SUNDAY  SCHOOL  ASSOCDV- 
TION,   NEWARK,   NEW  JERSEY 

The  Summer  School  of  Methods  for  Sunday-school  teachers  holds 
the  middle  place  chronologically  in  a  series  of  three  movements,  each 
of  which  has  for  its  primary  purpose  the  training  of  those  actively 
engaged  in  Sunday-school  work.  These  three  are  the  Graded  Union, 
in  which  Sunday-school  teachers  of  one  or  more  grades  meet  weekly 
for  mutual  helpfulness;  the  School  of  Methods,  where  they  spend  at 
least  a  week  together  for  definite  instruction  in  the  science  and  art  of 
teaching;  and  the  Institute,  which  is  a  sort  of  university  extension  of  the 
School,  through  which  in  one-day  sessions  the  most  practical  and  immedi- 
ately available  instruction  from  the  last  School  is  taken  to  the  rural  and 
isolated  districts  during  the  year. 

In  order  to  understand  what  the  School  of  Methods  is,  we  must  know 
something  of  its  evolution.  Thirty-four  years  ago,  following,  and  doubt- 
less as  a  result  of,  the  national  convention  held  in  Newark,  N.  J.,  the 
primary  Sunday-school  teachers  of  that  city  formed  an  interdenomina- 
tional organization  for  mutual  helpfulness  which  met  weekly  and  was 
called  "The  Newark  Association  of  Infant-Class  Teachers."  As  this 
was  three  years  before  the  introduction  of  the  International  Lesson 
Course,  these  teachers  were  obUged  at  first  to  select  their  own  lesson 
material  as  well  as  to  evolve  the  method  of  presentation.  It  will  be 
seen,  therefore,  that  their  coming  together  was  brought  about  solely  by 
the  realization  of  a  common  need.  The  limiting  of  the  organization 
technically  to  infant-class  teachers  was  not  caused  by  clannishness  on 
their  part,  but  was  the  result  of  existing  conditions.  As  primary  teachers 
were  at  that  time  the  only  ones  in  any  Sunday  school  who  remained  in 
their  grade,  they  were  the  only  ones  who  year  after  year  continued  to 
have  common  needs.  This  organization  has  been  continued  without 
a  break,  enlarging  its  work  to  meet  growing  needs  and  changing  condi- 
tions, and  even  to  create  needs  by  advocating  and  impressing  the  necessity 
for  more  perfect  grading.  The  program  of  the  Newark  Graded  Union 
of  Sunday-School  Teachers  for  the  present  quarter  shows  the  advance 
that  has  been  made  through  the  years.  Three  distinct  grades  now 
exist  within  what  was  formerly  the  infant  class,  and  in  the  Union  now 

465 


466  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

are  found  Beginners,  Primary,  and  Junior  teachers  meeting  in  different 
rooms  at  the  same  time  to  receive  definite  instruction  and  consider  their 
exact  needs,  coming  together  for  the  study  of  the  principles  which  under- 
lie all  elementary  teaching.  The  value  of  such  meetings  has  been  recog- 
nized outside  of  the  state  where  the  movement  originated,  and  now  there 
are  several  hundred  Unions  scattered  over  the  United  States  and  Canada. 

In  1894  Rev.  E.  Morris  Fergusson,  then  as  now  General  Secretary  of 
the  State  Sunday  School  Association  of  New  Jersey,  while  attending  the 
Annual  Institute  of  the  Newark  Primary  Union,  became  impressed 
with  these  facts:  "The  primary  teachers  are  the  ones  who  most  desire 
help;  they  are  practically  the  only  ones  to  whom  definite  help  can  be 
given;  the  more  experienced  among  them  are  anxious  to  give  the  help; 
the  best  helpers  for  the  primary  teachers  are  the  primary  teachers 
themselves;  they  are  doing  good  work,  but  they  need  more  time  together; 
if  instead  of  one  day  they  could  have  a  week  or  more,  a  great  deal  could 
be  accomplished."  At  Mr.  Fergusson's  instigation  the  State  Association 
undertook  that  year  to  give  teachers  an  opportunity  to  meet  for  ten  days 
in  July  at  Asbury  Park,  and  to  have  as  their  leaders  eleven  instructors 
each  of  acknowledged  ability  in  his  or  her  special  line. 

From  the  first  the  value  of  this  movement  was  seen,  and  the  work 
has  been  continued  each  year  with  unflagging  enthusiasm  by  the  State 
Association.  Its  results  are  seen  in  better  teaching,  a  deepened  sense 
of  responsibility  on  the  part  of  the  teachers,  and  better  grading  in  the 
schools.  For  the  first  three  years  the  School  was  distinctly  primary; 
then  the  primary  teachers  began  to  demand  better  teaching  in  the  next 
grade  above  to  which  their  scholars  must  be  promoted.  This  resulted 
in  the  starting  of  a  Junior  Section.  Then,  as  the  primary  teachers  became 
further  enlightened  regarding  the  nature  of  the  children  under  their 
care,  they  saw  the  necessity  for  grading  within  the  primary  department, 
and  the  Beginners'  Section  was  next  established.  Lesson  material  was 
furnished  for  these  little  children  by  Miss  Margaret  Cushman  (now  Mrs. 
Haven),  a  trained  kindergartner  who  prepared,  at  the  request  of  Mr. 
Fergusson  and  his  associates,  a  two-year  Course  for  Beginners  which 
was  immediately  tested  in  the  many  newly  formed  beginners'  classes. 

Previous  to  1903  the  Union  work  in  New  Jersey  had  in  many  cases 
gone  beyond  the  elementary  grades,  so  that  intermediate  and  even  senior 
and  adult  grade  teachers  were  included  in  planning  for  the  work.  From 
this  grew  a  demand  for  the  enlargement  of  the  School  of  Methods,  so 
that  last  year  the  Executive  Committee  authorized  the  establishment  of 
an  Intermediate  Section  under  the  care  of  the  State  Secretary.  From  the 
first  this  has  been  a  genuine  school  with  its  instructors,  students  enrolled 


SUMMER  SCHOOLS  OF  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  METHODS      467 

in  grades,  attendance  marked  in  the  sections,  and  certificates  given  in 
recognition  of  work  done.  Among  the  instructors  and  lecturers  have 
been  many  who  stand  at  the  head  in  Sunday-school  and  other  educa- 
tional work.  Mrs.  J.  Woodbridge  Barnes,  International  Primary 
Secretary;  Mrs.  M.  G.  Kennedy,  Miss  Marie  R.  Hofer,  Dr.  A.  B.  Van 
Ormer,  Edward  P.  St.  John,  Dr.  William  Byron  Forbush,  Mrs.  Mar- 
garet Cushman  Haven,  Mrs.  Alonzo  Pettit,  Miss  Annie  S.  Harlow,  Miss 
Marion  Thomas,  Patterson  DuBois,  Miss  Florence  Darnell,  Miss  Louise 
Westwood,  Rev.  Pascal  Harrower,  Dr.  Charles  L.  Rhoades,  Dr.  Everett 
L.  Tomlinson,  and  Miss  Annie  W.  Williams,  are  some  of  those  whose 
names  have  appeared  on  the  program. 

The  history  of  this  School  of  Methods  in  New  Jersey,  where  the 
movement  originated,  has  been  duplicated  to  a  greater  or  less  degree  in 
other  states  and  in  Canada.  In  1897  was  held  the  first  School  of  Methods 
outside  of  New  Jersey,  when  Illinois  and  Quebec  both  adopted  the  plan. 
Since  the  beginning  sixty-four  Schools  have  been  held,  and  so  far  ten 
have  been  planned  for  the  coming  summer:  Pennsylvania  is  to  have 
three,  and  New  Jersey,  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  West  Virginia, 
Illinois,  Quebec,  and  New  Brunswick  are  each  to  have  one. 

Many  Chautauquas  all  over  the  country  introduced  a  course  for 
elementary  Sunday-school  teachers  on  the  same  general  plan  with  their 
other  work,  providing  an  hour  or  so  each  day  for  a  period  of  several 
weeks.  A  great  deal  has  been  accomplished  by  these  courses,  and 
all  leaders  in  the  general  work  hail  with  delight  any  intelligent  effort  to 
help  where  help  is  so  much  needed.  But  of  necessity  the  value  of  such 
a  course  depends  altogether  upon  the  general  wisdom  and  teaching 
ability  of  one  person,  and  is  therefore  limited  in  its  scope.  Few  teachers 
of  young  children  in  our  Sunday  schools  are  financially  able  to  devote 
four  or  six  weeks  each  year  to  securing  such  training;  so  it  is  conceded 
that  the  school  of  one  week  or  ten  days,  with  many  specialists  as  instruc- 
tors and  a  strictly  graded  curriculum,  is  the  ideal. 

In  1902  the  Mother  of  all  Chautauquas  placed  its  elementary 
Sunday-school  course  upon  this  basis,  and  that  summer  as  well  as  last 
year  a  School  of  Methods  was  held  there  which  conformed  to  the  stand- 
ard set  for  such  schools  by  the  International  Primary  Committee.  In 
the  multiplication  of  schools  a  standard  became  necessary  in  order  that 
intelligent  reports  might  be  made  of  the  work,  and  that  the  appellation 
"School"  might  have  a  definite  significance  and  value. 

The  standard  is  as  follows: 

I.  Registrations.  The  names  and  grades  of  all  students  must  be 
registered. 


468  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

2.  Attendance.  A  daily  record  of  attendance  at  each  session  and 
section  must  be  kept  for  each  student. 

3.  Time.  Sessions  must  be  held  for  not  less  than  five  days  and  not 
more  than  ten  consecutive  days,  not  counting  Sundays. 

4.  Hours.  The  work  must  be  so  arranged  that  a  reasonably  full 
day's  work  is  offered  for  each  student  every  day  while  the  School  is  in 
session. 

5.  Character  of  School.  The  regular  work  shall  consist  wholly  of 
instruction,  conferences,  illustrations  of  methods  and  devotions,  without 
transaction  of  business.  The  illustration  of  methods  should  be  for 
definite  grades. 

6.  Courses  of  study.  One  or  more  courses  of  study  of  not  less  than 
five  periods  each  shall  be  offered  for  each  of  the  recognized  elementary 
grades,  and  for  such  of  the  upper  grades  as  the  school  work  may  be 
intended  to  cover. 


RELIGIOUS  PSYCHOLOGY  AND  PEDAGOGY  IN  SUMMER 

SCHOOLS 

PROFESSOR   GEORGE   ALBERT   COE,  Ph.D.. 

NORTHWESTERN    UNIVERSITY,  EVANSTON,  ILLINOIS 

1.  Who  is  to  do  the  actual  work  of  religious  education?  The 
actual  work  of  religious  and  moral  education  must  be  done  chiefly  by 
persons  who  are  not  technical  educators.  For  (i)  the  family  will  always 
be  the  chief  educational  institution;  (2)  through  an  indefinite  period 
Sunday-school  work,  young  people's  society  work,  etc.,  in  the  vast 
majority  of  churches  will  continue  to  be  done  almost,  if  not  entirely, 
by  unpaid  teachers  and  officers,  and  generally  by  persons  without 
thorough  technical  training;  (3)  even  when  the  local  church  has  employed 
paid  experts  as  superintendents  and  teachers,  the  success  of  the  wisest 
plans  will  still  depend  upon  the  co-operation  of  the  rank  and  file  of 
church  members.  Hence,  the  improvement  of  rehgious  and  moral  edu- 
cation in  any  large  and  deep  way  depends  upon  the  adoption  of  sound 
views  and  habits  on  the  part  of  the  people  at  large. 

2.  How  shall  the  workers  themselves  be  taught  ?  Perhaps  the  most 
serious  problem  before  our  Association  is  how  to  reach  the  common 
people  with  its  principles,  (i)  Probably  our  chief  reliance  must  be  the 
pastor.  Now,  comparatively  few  pastors  received  any  instruction  in 
pedagogy  in  their  student  days.  The  introduction  of  pedagogy  into  the 
theological  course  is  very  new.  Hence,  it  will  not  be  strange  if  some 
parts  of  our  reform  move  slowly  until  the  theological  seminaries  have 
given  us  a  generation  of  pastors  trained  in  the  principles  of  education. 
(2)  In  the  meantime  not  a  little  can  be  done  by  bringing  sound  principles 
to  busy  pastors,  to  Sunday-school  teachers  and  other  workers,  and  to 
parents.  Long  in  the  future,  when  every  pastor  is  an  educator,  possibly 
the  need  of  Summer- Assembly  work  in  this  field  will  grow  small;  cer- 
tainly at  present  the  need  and  the  opportunity  are  very  large.  The 
Summer  Assembly  and  Summer  School  form  a  necessary  connecting 
link  between  the  specialist  on  the  one  hand,  and  a  great  number  of 
workers  on  the  other.  (3)  Two  types  of  summer  work  are  practicable 
— popular,  nontechnical  lectures  for  the  people  at  large;  and  technical 
or  semi-technical  courses  of  lectures  and  studies  for  special  groups, 
such  as  pastors,  Sunday-school  teachers,  and  Christian-Association 
secretaries. 

469 


470  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

3.  Religious  education  on  the  Summer-Assembly  platform.  Reli- 
gious psychology  and  pedagogy  are  interesting  to  the  people,  and  particu- 
larly to  the  thoughtful  people  who  constitute  the  chief  patrons  of  summer 
assemblies.  It  is  important,  however,  that  both  topic  and  method  of 
the  popular  lecture  be  adapted  to  reach  the  specific  end  of  improving 
religious  education  through  the  every-day  worker,  (i)  Topics  should 
be  chosen  within  the  sphere  of  assured  knowledge,  not  of  speculation. 
The  psychology  of  religious  life  and  growth,  and  the  practical  problems 
of  the  home,  the  Sunday  school,  etc.,  viewed  from  the  standpoint  of 
educational  principles,  constitute  the  main  field.  (2)  As  to  method: 
Avoid  the  "platitudinous,"  merely  hortatory  or  emotional  lecture, 
however  true  it  may  be.  Avoid  the  mere  entertainer,  or  collector  of 
psychological  odds  and  ends.  Avoid  the  merely  scientific  or  philo- 
sophical lecture.  What  is  wanted  is  the  fusion  of  scientific  insight, 
spiritual  earnestness,  and  practical  grasp.  There  must  be  sympathy 
and  understanding  for  the  points  of  view,  the  intellectual  obstacles, 
and  the  well-worn  habits  of  the  auditors.  Graphic  methods — black- 
board, charts,  stereopticon  —  should  be  used  wherever  they  are 
practicable. 

4.  The  Summer-School  course  in  religious  education,  (i)  Appro- 
priate subjects  for  such  technical  or  semi-technical  courses  are  general 
psychology,  the  principles  of  education,  the  special  psychology  of  child- 
hood and  adolescence,  the  boy  problem,  the  problems  of  the  Sunday 
school,  of  young  people's  societies,  of  Christian  Associations.  In  gen- 
eral, principles  should  be  taught  in  closest  relation  to  practical  applica- 
tions. (2)  As  to  method:  The  central  principle  is  to  induce  those  who 
take  the  course  to  do  something  for  themselves.  The  lectures  should 
be  accompanied  by  a  reasonably  full  syllabus  and  bibliography.  A 
small  library  should  be  provided.  The  reading  of  certain  productions 
or  passages  should  be  required  of  all.  In  addition,  each  student  should 
work  up  a  specially  assigned  topic.  There  should  be  written  reports 
upon  the  reading,  and  written  reviews  or  an  examination  upon  the  whole 
course.  By  these  methods  a  course  of  two  hours  a  day  (one  hour  for 
lecture  and  one  for  discussion)  for  ten  days  has  been  known  to  produce 
results  Httle,  if  at  all,  below  college  grade.  A  few  leading  facts  and 
principles  had  been  learned ;  a  point  of  view  had  been  acquired,  and  also 
familiarity  with  some  of  the  best  literature  of  the  subject;  finally,  the 
broader  outlook  brought  a  new  impulse  and  new  enthusiasm. 


XVII.    RELIGIOUS  ART  AND  MUSIC 


THE  USE  OF  BIBLICAL  PICTURES  IN  TEACHING 
CHILDREN 

HENRY  TURNER  BAILEY, 

AGENT  MASSACHUSETTS  STATE  BOARD  OF  EDUCATION,   NORTH  SCITUATE, 

MASSACHUSETTS 

At  the  dawn  of  the  Christian  era  those  who  had  turned  from  idols 
to  serve  the  Hving  God  shrank  from  any  representation  of  the  person  of 
Christ,  and  looked  askance  at  all  forms  of  art.  But  even  Christians 
could  not  live  without  self-expression  in  sensuous  form,  and  gradually 
art  returned  to  the  service  of  religion.  Beginning  under  ground  in  the 
crypts  and  catacombs  of  the  second  and  third  centuries,  with  the  crudest 
symbols,  Christian  art  gathered  strength  after  the  Edict  of  Milan,  put 
forth  its  first  precious  blossoms  during  the  days  of  Constantine  and 
Theodosius,  and  then,  crushed  by  the  barbarian  invasions,  blighted  by 
the  centuries  of  darkness,  it  had  the  name  of  being  dead,  yet  lived, 
subject  to  the  storms  of  Byzantine  ecclesiasticism,  until  the  dawn  of 
the  Renaissance. 

From  the  time  of  Margaritone  of  Arezzo  to  the  Reformation  the 
church  was  the  patron  of  art,  not  wholly  for  love  of  art,  perhaps,  but 
because  through  art  she  could  reach  the  people.  In  the  days  when  the 
truths  of  religion  were  repeated  in  Latin  to  those  who  could  hardly  have 
read  them  even  in  their  own  tongue.  He  who  ever  walks  in  the  midst  of 
the  seven  golden  candlesticks  caused  the  sacred  story  to  be  rewritten  in 
the  universal  language  of  the  painter  and  the  sculptor.  Many  a  place 
of  worship  became  a  veritable  Bible  in  stone,  written  within  and  without, 
like  the  scroll  of  Revelation.' 

The  Reformation,  culminating,  so  far  as  its  relation  to  art  is  con- 
cerned, in  the  Puritanism  of  England  and  the  Quakerism  of  America, 
swept  the  Protestant  churches  clean  and  left  them  bare.  The  spirit 
that  snuffed  out  the  candles  and  removed  the  dead  Christ  from  the 
altar,  tore  the  kindly  saints  from  their  niches,  drove  the  lustrous  angels 
from  the  windows,  and  covered  with  whitewash  the  fields  and  the  gardens, 
the  highways,  and  the  houses  wherein  the  mighty  works  were  being 
done  upon  the  walls.     For  two  hundred  years  Protestantism  in  America 

'  See  Ruskin's  "Sanctus,  Sanctus,  Sanctus,"  an  appendix  to  "St.  Mark's  Rest;"  "Giotto  and 
His  Works  in  Padua;"  and  "The  Bible  of  Amiens." 


472  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

had  no  art.  The  crude  woodcuts  of  the  New  England  Primer  and 
of  Fox's  Book  oj  Martyrs,  the  later  pictures  in  lesson-helps  and  Sunday- 
school  books  and  papers,  the  jig-sawed  ornaments  of  "Wooden  Gothic" 
churches,  the  monotonous  patterns  on  their  stenciled  windows,  the 
ugly  geometric  decorations  in  strong  colors  and  gold  upon  their  plaster 
walls,  their  "lying  wonders"  in  the  form  of  painted  niches  and  pilasters, 
cannot  be  called  art,  nor  reckoned  as  influences  for  good. 

But  a  new  day  is  dawning.  Protestants  are  beginning  to  wonder 
if  their  God  is  not  the  same  now  that  He  was  when  He  found  Bezaleel 
the  son  of  Uri  and  "filled  him  with  the  spirit  of  God,  in  wisdom,  and  in 
understanding,  and  in  knowledge,  and  in  all  manner  of  workmanship, 
to  devise  cunning  works,  to  work  in  gold  and  in  silver,  and  in  brass,  and 
in  cutting  of  stones,  to  set  them,  and  in  carving  of  timber,  to  work  in 
all  manner  of  workmanship,"  that  the  sanctuary  might  be  filled  with 
holiness  of  beauty  as  a  fit  environment  for  worshiping  the  Lord  in  the 
beauty  of  holiness.  The  liUes  of  the  field  are  being  considered  again, 
in  decoration,  and  our  brethren  the  prophets,  as  well,  even  in  the  ultra- 
Protestant  churches.  Church  windows  are  beginning  to  glow  once 
more  with  color  as  if  open  toward  the  New  Jerusalem ;  and  pictorial  art 
is  returning  to  make  more  real  the  land  of  the  Gospel  of  peace  and  the 
innumerable  company  of  witnesses. 

Pictorial  art  is  returning,  but  not  in  the  beautiful  form  it  had  when 
banished.  It  went  from  aisle  and  chancel  and  altar  in  robes  like  the 
hangings  of  the  Tabernacle,  blue  and  purple  and  scarlet  and  fine 
twined  linen  and  gold;  it  is  coming  back  in  gray.  During  its  absence  the 
camera  has  inaugurated  the  democracy  of  art,  as  the  printing-press 
during  the  Reformation  ushered  in  the  democracy  of  learning.  Pictures 
were  in  color  and  confined  to  the  churches  and  the  palaces  of  the  wealthy 
in  1600;  in  1900  they  are  to  be  found  everywhere  in  the  form 
of  photo-engraved  half-tone  prints.  Our  problem  is  this:  Lacking 
the  splendid  pictures  and  decorations  which  in  an  earHer  time  made 
every  place  of  worship  a  place  of  visions  and  dreams  even  for  the  child 
and  the  most  unimaginative  worshiper,  how  shall  we  best  utilize  what 
we  now  have  in  the  religious  education  of  our  children  ? 

That  children  love  pictures  goes  without  saying;  that  they  glean 
information  from  pictures  with  facility  and  delight  every  observer  of 
children  can  testify;  that  pictures  are  invaluable  as  aids  in  teaching 
certain  forms  of  knowledge,  every  public-school  teacher  believes;  but 
that  pictures  are  desirable  as  a  means  of  teaching  religious  truth  no  one 
can  affirm  without  provoking  contradiction.  ReHgious  teachers  have 
taken  sides  upon  that  proposition  for  about  eighteen  hundred  years. 


BIBLICAL  PICTURES  IN  TEACHING  CHILDREN  473 

But  assuming  that  pictures  are  bound  to  be  used  with  increasing  fre- 
quency in  our  Sunday  schools,  all  will  agree,  I  think,  that  they  should 
be  used  in  the  best  way  possible. 

The  intelligent  use  of  pictures  in  teaching  is  impossible  without 
making  at  the  very  outset  a  discrimination  between  a  view  and  a  picture. 
A  view  is  taken  directly  from  nature  by  means  of  a  camera,  or  by  a  copyist 
whose  work  is  photographic  in  character.  A  picture  is  a  work  of  art, 
composed  by  an  artist  to  produce  the  adequate  embodiment  of  some 
idea. 

Views  are  indispensable  aids  in  creating  mental  images  of  places  out- 
side the  pupil's  experience.  A  map  helps  to  give  ideas  of  direction, 
relative  position,  and,  if  read  perfectly,  of  the  general  lay  of  the  land; 
but  a  map  must  be  supplemented  with  views  before  the  country  can  be 
seen  in  the  mind's  eye  with  a  sufficient  degree  of  truth  and  clearness 
to  serve  as  a  background  for  actual  occurrences.  The  Wilderness  of 
Judea,  the  Mountains  of  Moab,  the  Valley  of  Hinnom;  a  city  so  "com- 
pacted together"  that  a  woman  standing  upon  her  own  housetop  could 
drop  a  piece  of  a  millstone  upon  the  head  of  a  king  passing  in  the  middle 
of  the  street  below  surrounded  by  his  guard;  a  bed  of  such  proportions 
that  a  man  could  pick  it  up  and  go  through  a  crowd  to  his  own  house 
without  help;  a  roof  that  could  be  "broken  up"  by  four  men  without 
creating  a  panic  in  the  packed  congregation  below — all  such  elements 
in  Bibhcal  scenes  must  be  cleared  by  means  of  photographic  views,  if 
the  child  is  to  have  truthful  and  vivid  images.  Half-tone  prints  are  a 
fairly  satisfactory  substitute  for  the  photographs  themselves,  but  stereo- 
scopic views  are  best. 

The  illustration  of  Biblical  scenes  may  be  easily  overdone  by  an 
enthusiastic  teacher  with  a  large  collection  of  prints  at  her  disposal.  In 
the  very  nature  of  the  case,  photographs  must  be  from  the  land  as  it  is, 
and  while  the  Sea  of  Galilee  itself  has  not  changed  greatly  since  the  days 
of  the  Master,  while  Hermon  and  Tabor  stand  as  of  old,  the  Mount 
of  Olives  has  changed,  the  shores  of  Galilee  are  no  longer  dotted  with 
cities,  nor  its  bosom  adorned  with  countless  picturesque  sails.  The 
land  lies  desolate,  miles  and  miles  without  inhabitant.  The  works 
recorded  in  the  gospels  were  done  "in  a  green  tree,"  not  in  a  dry,  and  too 
many  views  of  the  dry  tree  may  gradually  kill  what  little  vitality  the 
child's  image  of  the  life  of  the  time  may  have  had.  Moreover,  truth 
is  often  more  important  than  facts.  The  truth  Jesus  presented  to  the 
woman  of  Samaria  is  vastly  more  important  than  the  fact  that  "He  sat 
thus  on  the  well."  A  view  of  Jacob's  Well  as  it  is  today  is  valuable  only 
as  giving  point  to  the  fact  that  the  well  still  exists;  it  has  no  more  value 


474  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

in  teaching  the  truth  concerning  the  Water  of  Life  than  a  photograph 
of  the  surface  of  the  moon  has  in  enabUng  one  to  hear  again  the  plain- 
tive message  of  Wak  Whitman's  lone  guest  from  Alabama  mourning 
for  his  dead  mate  where  the  ghostly  waves  toss  in  the  moonlight  along 
Paumanok's  shore. 

Pictures  composed  by  artists  to  embody  certain  phases  of  truth,  are 
therefore  far  better  in  many  cases,  than  views.  From  the  point  of 
view  of  one  who  would  present  a  truth,  Hofmann's  picture  of  the  meet- 
ing of  Jesus  and  the  Samaritan  is  immeasurably  superior  to  a  stereo- 
scopic view  of  Jacob's  Well  as  it  is  today.  Zimmermann's  "Call  of  the 
Fishermen"  presents  more  truth  in  a  more  convincing  way  than  the 
average  teacher  could  present  in  fifty  thousand  words.  But  pictures 
must  be  used  with  discrimination.  Some  must  be  ruled  out  altogether 
because  weakly  conceived  and  poorly  drawn,  and  others  because  their 
fantastic  details  crowd  into  the  mind  at  once  and  prevent  the  entrance 
of  the  essential  truth.  A  still  further  discrimination  will  separate  the 
best  pictures,  for  purposes  of  teaching,  into  three  groups. 

1.  Pictures  which  are  to  be  used  as  illustrations  of  the  text,  such  as 
Titian's  "Tribute  to  Caesar"  or  Rubens's  "Descent  from  the  Cross." 
They  are  not  to  be  studied  too  critically.  They  present  strongly  the 
moment,  often  with  glaring  anachronisms  in  costume  and  other  acces- 
sories, to  be  overlooked,  however,  because  the  intention  of  the  artist 
was  to  present  a  truth,  not  merely  the  literal  archaeological  facts.  Such 
pictures  are  to  be  shown  when  needed  to  point  a  moral  and  adorn  a  tale, 
or  to  stimulate  the  mind  in  a  review  of  the  lesson. 

2.  Pictures  to  be  searched.  Pictures  like  Holman  Hunt's  "Finding 
of  Christ  in  the  Temple"  and  "Shadow  of  Death,"  Hofmann's  "Christ 
and  the  Doctors,"  Keller's  "Raising  the  Daughter  of  Jairus,"  and  Ford 
Madox  Brown's  "Jesus  Washes  the  Disciples'  Feet,"  contain  not  only 
statistical  truth  as  to  time,  place,  costume,  etc.,  but  a  wealth  of  symbolic 
and  suggestive  truth.  They  sum  up  all  that  is  known  or  may  be  thought 
of  as  connected  in  any  way  with  the  subject.  A  dozen  different  passages 
of  Scripture  from  Deuteronomy  to  John  may  be  cited  to  prove  the 
appropriateness  of  as  many  details  in  Holman  Hunt's  "Finding  of 
Christ  in  the  Temple."  Not  a  line  or  dot  in  the  whole  canvas  has  been 
placed  there  without  Scripture  reason.  Such  pictures  are  veritable 
treasure-houses,  to  be  searched  as  the  womar.  of  the  parable  searched 
for  the  lost  penny,  with  the  Word  as  a  lamp  unto  the  feet  and  a  light  for 
the  path.  They  are  among  the  most  valuable  means  of  teaching  at 
our  command.  Unfortunately,  artists  who  strive  for  the  literal  truth 
of  setting  for  an  immortal  incident  sometimes  forget  the  larger  spiritual 


BIBLICAL  PICTURES  IN  TEACHING  CHILDREN  475 

truth.  They  show  Jesus  the  carpenter,  but  not  the  man  Christ  Jesus. 
They  show  the  one  v.-ho  slept  on  the  pillow  in  the  boat  upon  Gennes- 
aret,  but  not  the  one  who  said  "I  am  He"  with  such  majesty  that  the 
crowd  went  backward  and  fell  to  the  ground  in  Gethsemane. 

3.  The  third  group  includes  all  such  pictures  as  Del  Sarto's  "St. 
John,"  Cornicelius's  "Temptation,"  Hvmt's  "Light  of  the  World," 
and  the  ISIadoima  pictures  from  Raphael's  to  Dagnan-Bouveret's.  They 
are  not  illustrations;  they  are  not  pictures  to  be  patiently  searched  for 
suggestive  detail;  they  are  things  of  beauty  to  be  received  with  thanks- 
giving, "dwelt  upon,  wondered  at,"  to  use  Browning's  phrase.  A 
teacher  of  experience  may  lead  a  pupil  to  see  something  of  their  beauty, 
their  significance;  but  only  Hfe,  experience,  contemplation,  can  draw 
from  them  their  final  message.  In  this  third  group  belong  a  hundred 
pictures  not  usually  reckoned  as  "religious" — Corot's  "Spring,"  Mil- 
let's "Gleaners,"  Burne-Jones's  "Golden  Stair,"  Watts's  "Sir  Gala- 
had," Turner's  "Ulysses  Deriding  Polyphemus,"  and  the  rest  of  that 
goodly  fellowship  of  perfected  masterpieces,  reflecting  God  in  His 
world  and  the  Spirit  inspiring  the  hearts  of  men  to  work  and  worship. 

From  these  latter  groups  of  pictures  selections  should  be  made  for 
the  adornment  of  the  Sunday-school  room.  Only  the  most  beautiful 
things,  the  most  uplifting,  the  most  enduring  in  their  influence  upon 
the  mind,  should  be  hung  constantly  before  the  children.  Views, 
crucifixions,  and  Mater  Dolorosas  should  be  kept  in  the  cupboard  and 
brought  forth  only  on  the  inevitable  occasion. 

The  Sunday-school  teachers  of  our  country  ought  to  be  able  to  secure 
the  best  Biblical  and  religious  views  and  pictures  at  a  reasonable  price. 
This  organization  might  well  undertake  the  task  of  gathering  together 
(i)  a  series  of  views  from  Bible  lands,  which  would  enable  the  teacher 
to  present  graphically  the  natural  environment  of  every  important 
event  recorded  in  Scripture;  (2)  a  series  of  reproductions  from  archaeo- 
logical material,  monuments,  household  utensils,  and  historical  pictures, 
calculated  to  enable  the  pupil  to  build  up  a  mental  picture  of  the  social 
environment  of  every  important  personage;  (3)  a  series  of  illustrations, 
forming  a  complete  illustrated  Bible;  and  (4)  a  series  of  pictures  for 
contemplation.^ 

All  the  picture  galleries  of  the  world  should  be  searched  to  discover 
the  best  in  each  class,  and  these  should  be  catalogued  by  titles,  by 
artists,  by  scriptural  reference,  and  by  subject,  that  a  teacher,  having  this 

'  The  following  pictures  will  serve  as  types  to  define  still  further  the  dominant  characteristics  of 
the  four  groups:  (i)  Views — "The  Ford  of  the  Jordan  near  Jericho"  (in  flood  and  at  low  water);  (a) 
Pictures— "The  Building  of  the  Pyramids,"  Richter;  (3)  Illustrations — "The  Last  Supper,"  Da  Vind; 
(4)  Visions — "The  Golden  Stair,"  Bume-Jones. 


476  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

reference-book,  this  graphic  bibliography,  may  know  at  once  the  best 
available  material,  and  order  from  the  publishers  the  views  and  pictures 
required  in  teaching  any  lesson. 

When  our  Sunday-school  libraries  are  reorganized  for  forwarding 
the  business  of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  all  the  helps  a  Sunday-school 
teacher  requires,  which  he  himself  cannot  afford  to  own,  will  be  found 
iji  the  Sunday-school  library  in  sufficient  quantity  to  meet  all  demands. 
It  is  not  too  much  to  hope  that  complete  sets  of  the  views  and  pictures 
most  helpful  in  presenting  the  truths  of  religion  will  be  included  in  the 
equipment  of  such  a  library,  that  the  teacher  may  at  least  see  samples 
of  the  pictures  catalogued  in  the  index  before  ordering  them  for  personal 
use  in  the  class. 

Gradually  the  approved  methods  and  devices  for  teaching  employed 
in  the  public  schools  will  be  adopted  by  the  church.  Gradually  the 
walls  of  our  Sunday-school  rooms  will  become  beautiful;  our  teaching 
will  be  more  purposeful  and  effective;  our  courses  of  instruction  will 
include  the  history  of  the  church  since  the  martyrdom  of  Peter  and 
Paul;  our  children  will  be  taught  the  symbolism  of  color  and  of  Chris- 
tian emblems,  and  their  lives  will  be  enriched  with  Christian  art. 
Churches  will  help  to  fulfil  anew  the  prophecy  of  Isaiah:  "The  glory 
of  Lebanon  shall  come  unto  thee,  the  fir  tree,  the  pine  tree,  and  the  box 
together,  to  beautify  the  place  of  my  sanctuary;  and  I  will  make  the 
place  of  my  feet  glorious;"  and  "I  will  lay  thy  stones  with  fair  colors, 
and  lay  thy  foundations  with  sapphires.  And  I  will  make  thy  windows 
of  agates,  and  thy  gates  of  carbuncles,  and  all  thy  borders  of  pleasant 
stones.  And  all  thy  children  shall  be  taught  of  the  Lord,  and  great 
shall  be  the  peace  of  thy  children." 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  VALUES  OF  CHURCH  ARCHITECTURE 
AND  DECORATION 
J.  CLEVELAND  CADY, 

NEW   YORK   CITY 

In  the  case  of  a  large  portion  of  our  church  buildings  two  things 
engage  attention:  that  the  building  serve  the  purposes  of  a  center  for 
religious  activities,  and  that  it  be  as  "showy"  as  means  will  allow. 
That  buildings  of  this  class  should  be  admirably  adapted  to  their  various 
uses  is  certainly  of  high  importance ;  and  in  this  day  of  utility  and  inven- 
tion this  quality  is  not  likely  to  be  lacking,  especially  as  the  voices  of 
those  interested  in  the  several  departments  are  sure  to  be  heard  with 
emphasis.  But  excellence  in  this  respect  does  not  make  the  building 
— as  a  church — a  feature  of  "educational  value"  in  a  community;  not 
more  than  a  schoolhouse  or  hotel  which  has  been  well  devised,  or  the 
latest  mowing-machine  or  cash  register.  All  are  excellent  specimens 
of  careful  and  thoughtful  planning  but  nothing  more.  As  for  the  quality 
of  "showiness"  —  far  too  largely  the  bane  of  our  churches  today — 
probably  no  one  will  claim  that  its  influence  is  valuable;  it  is  too  evidently 
inappropriate,  and  indeed  in  entire  contradiction  to  that  for  which  the 
building  stands. 

What,  then,  is  needed  to  render  our  churches  of  "educational  value"  ? 
Is  it  not  that,  beyond  being  convenient  and  comfortable  centers  of 
churchly  activity,  they  shall  in  every  line  and  feature  speak  unmistak- 
ably of  the  objects  for  which  they  stand,  shall  in  fact  be  monumental 
as  well  as  useful.  The  service  of  a  monument  is  "to  recall  to  mind," 
"to  preserve  memories,"  "to  bear  witness;"  and  little  reflection  is  neces- 
sary to  realize  that  to  accomplish  this  is  the  noblest  function  of  archi- 
tecture. This  we  may  term  the  spiritual  side  of  the  work;  the  conveni- 
ence and  comfort,  the  physical  side.  And  as  no  character  is  complete  or 
of  any  great  value  without  body  and  soul,  so  a  church  building  that 
ignores  either  falls  entirely  short  of  the  influence  and  value  it  should 
possess.  The  physical  side  is  seldom  neglected,  but  the  spiritual — 
the  very  soul  of  the  building — how  rarely  does  it  receive  any  adequate 
attention,  and  this  although  the  loftiest  ideas  and  considerations  press 
for  expression.  A  church  bears  witness  to  "Faith  in  God;"  it  is  the 
"House  of  the  Lord;"  "His  Habitation,"  as  David  delighted  to  call  it. 
Thus  it  constantly  reminds  of  His  Presence  in  the  midst  of  His  people. 

477 


478  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

They  may  become  so  accustomed  to  it  as  to  give  little  heed,  but  it  silently 
makes  its  impression.  And  perhaps  in  the  day  of  trouble,  when  lights 
are  few  and  dim,  it  will  be  found  to  be  an  influence  of  greatest  value 
as  a  witness  to  truth  neglected  and  forgotten. 

Moreover,  in  this  busy  bustling  age,  when  the  considerations  of 
this  life  press  so  strongly  as  to  be  in  danger  of  excluding  from  thought 
anything  beyond  it — or  even  the  best  there  is  in  it — what  a  valuable 
reminder  is  the  building  that,  devoid  of  appearance  of  haste  and  restless- 
ness, calmly  and  seriously  bids  one  pause  and  reflect  on  matters  that 
are  vital  and  eternal.  It  has  always  seemed  to  me  that  the  spire  of  Old 
Trinity  at  the  head  of  Wall  Street,  New  York,  was  most  happily  placed, 
a  noble  and  constant  reminder  to  those  whose  lot  was  among  the  fickle 
and  fluctuating  values  of  "the  street,"  that  there  were  "riches  unsearch- 
able," and  a  Master  in  whom  there  was  "no  variableness  or  shadow  of 
turning."  Those  most  familiar  with  the  history  of  this  church  under- 
stand well  its  monumental  value,  and  know  that  its  silent  influence  has 
been  great.  Whenever  it  has  been  opened  for  a  simple  religious  noon- 
day service,  the  crowds  that  have  filled  it  have  shown  the  hold  it  had 
upon  the  consciences  and  hearts  of  those  in  its  neighborhood.  Not 
only  "in  the  street,"  but  in  every  place  the  temple  that  reminds  us 
of  God,  of  the  great  objects  of  life,  and  of  "the  house  not  built  with 
hands,"  is  rendering  a  service  of  inestimable  value. 

The  church  bears  witness  to  the  character  and  spirit  of  those  who 
erected  it.  If  affectionate  zeal  for  the  House  of  God  and  a  spirit  of  sacri- 
fice are  apparent,  the  example  is  likely  to  bear  fruit  in  kind.  The  visible 
evidence  of  such  devotion  is  a  silent  influence  that  enters  unseen  into 
the  mind  and  heart,  especiafly  of  the  young.  The  church  also  by  the 
tender  associations  that  cluster  around  it  bears  witness  to  the  intimate 
connection  of  religion  with  the  most  important  phases  of  life.  No  other 
building  thus  lays  hold  of  all  that  is  dearest  and  most  sacred  from  the 
beginning  to  the  end.  Here  the  Httle  child  is  brought  by  loving  parents 
for  the  rite  of  baptism,  in  evidence  of  their  desire  and  determination 
that  he  be  included  in  the  "household  of  faith."  Here  perhaps  later 
his  soul  comes  under  holy  influences,  and  he  experiences  a  new  birth 
that  shapes  his  whole  life.  He  never  can  forget  the  place  where  light 
first  dawned  upon  his  soul,  where  it  seemed  that  angels  ministered  to 
him.  Other  places  may  come  to  have  interest  and  value,  but  none  the 
tenderness  and  sacredness  of  the  spot  where  God  was  revealed  to  his 
soul.  The  place  is  further  endeared  by  the  Christian  fellowships  that 
are  formed  there — unselfish  friendships  that  have  a  rare  bond  in  affec- 
tion and  service  for  the  Master — and  that  are  frequently  the  most  cher- 


EDUCATIONAL  VALUES  OF  CHURCH  ARCHITECTURE     479 

ished  of  possessions.  Here  the  family  often  finds  its  beginning  in  the 
marriage  vows  that  are  taken  at  its  akars,  and  here  in  the  services 
and  worship  of  the  house  aid  is  found  to  meet  the  difficult  problems  of 
life  and  triumphantly  survive  its  storms.  Here  at  last  the  hands  are 
folded  in  the  sleep  of  death,  and  the  words  of  Him  who  is  the  Resurrec- 
tion and  the  Life  give  hope  and  the  promise  of  victory.  As  the  years 
pass,  how  strongly  and  tenderly  the  building  is  associated  with  loved 
ones  old  and  young;  with  scenes  of  rejoicing  and  of  sorrow  gloriously 
illuminated  by  hope.  How  it  recalls  and  preserves  these  precious 
memories,  and  bears  silent  witness  to  the  love  and  goodness  of  God. 
As  the  lives  of  some  people  of  exceeding  few  words,  but  of  pure  and 
lovely  spirit,  influence  profoundly  those  about  them  by  what  they  are, 
so  the  church  building  if  worthy  is  capable  of  exerting  a  silent  influence 
deeply  and  quietly,  but  far  greater  than  is  usually  appreciated. 

In  view  of  this,  what  fine  opportunities  these  buildings  aflord  for 
the  best  architectural  art;  for  that  which  shall  be  of  educational  value 
to  the  community,  because  in  full  harmony  with  their  lofty  spirit  and 
character.  This  is  quite  as  true  of  the  simple  rural  church  as  of  its  rich 
and  costly  sister  of  the  town;  for  it  is  not  the  size  or  amount  of  elabora- 
tion that  gives  the  charm,  but  the  spirit  that  has  pervaded  it.  Many 
of  the  Enghsh  parish  churches  are  of  the  simplest  possible  scheme,  but 
possess  dignity  and  impressiveness  that  cause  us  to  linger  admiringly 
and  seek  by  sketch  or  photograph  to  preserve  the  memory  of  them.  It 
does  not  need  the  rows  of  little  graves  nestling  in  the  churchyard  to 
remind  us  that  here  is  the  house  of  God — it  could  not  be  mistaken  for 
anything  else. 

WTiat,  then,  are  the  distinguishing  marks  of  a  building  so  expressive 
of  its  noble  character  that  it  is  monumental,  bearing  eloquent  witness 
to  its  high  purpose,  and  so  becoming  of  educational  value  ? 

I.  Durability.  The  building  should  be  enduring,  and  in  all  its 
aspects  impress  the  mind  decidedly  with  this  fact.  A  frail  transitory 
monument  cannot  command  respect;  it  is  rather  an  object  of  animad- 
version and  ridicule.  Those  who  seek  to  perpetuate  the  memory  and 
influence  of  great  persons  or  deeds  seek  not  only  the  most  lasting  mate- 
rials, but  in  many  cases  those  that  particularly  impress  the  eye  with 
this  quahty.  In  many  of  the  English  parish  churches  already  alluded 
to  there  is  a  simphcity  that  would  seem  daring  to  our  average  designer, 
but  there  is  also  a  substantial  and  durable  character  that  gives  the  build- 
ing a  permanent  quality  which  is  one  of  its  greatest  charms.  Our  wit- 
ness for  God  and  the  truth  should  obviously  be  able  to  withstand  well 
the  ravages  of  time  and  tempest.     Most  churches  would  gain  greatly 


48o  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

if  they  were  more  simple  in  scheme  and  ornament,  more  substantial  in 
material  and  construction.  It  evidently  requires  high  principle  and 
courage  to  choose  that  which  is  simple  and  lasting  over  that  which  is 
ostentatious.  The  tendencies  of  the  time  are  toward  the  latter;  the 
"  taking  "  thing  appeals  to  the  average  mind  more  strongly  than  con- 
siderations of  real  worth  or  truthfulness. 

2.  Sincerity  is  essential  to  any  satisfactory  church  building — as, 
indeed,  it  is  to  all  worthy  art.  It  must  really  be  all  that  it  seems,  and 
imitations  and  cheap  glories  of  all  kinds  can  have  no  part  in  it.  The 
church,  like  a  noble  man,  should  be  found  to  be  better  and  more  genuine 
on  close  acquaintance.  And  it  cannot  be  urged  too  strongly  that  insin- 
cerity, however  imposing,  is  contrary  to  all  good  art,  as  well  as  to  the 
essential  spirit  of  religion. 

3.  Dignity  is  another  important  feature  to  be  considered.  The  loss 
of  this  often  comes  from  the  desire  for  ostentation  just  alluded  to.  But 
even  where  that  does  not  exist,  the  craving  for  picturesqueness,  for 
"effectiveness,"  often  leads  to  a  complex  design  in  which  dignity  is 
impossible.  A  church  should  be  a  restful  building;  it  should  seem  to 
command  its  position  easily  without  strain  or  effort.  Fortunately,  its 
very  requirements  favor  this:  its  broad  masses,  which  speak  of  strength 
and  dignity,  would  be  almost  impossible  in  a  commercial  building, 
where  every  part  is  pierced  for  the  light  essential  to  business  activities; 
or  in  residence  buildings,  where  the  outward  view  is  the  great  charm. 
The  windows  that  hght  the  church  can  be  well  above  the  surrounding 
ground,  giving  a  firm  base  or  foothold  for  the  structure — always  an 
impressive  feature.  The  openings,  instead  of  fretting  the  exterior  in 
every  direction,  can  be  massed  to  advantage,  contrasting  with  the  great 
and  quiet  surfaces  of  the  wall.  Thus  a  sense  of  breadth,  power,  and 
restfulness  is  gained,  which  is  rarely  possible  in  any  other  class  of 
buildings.  And  are  not  these  the  very  qualities  needed  in  our  monu- 
mental church?  Moreover,  they  do  not  involve  greater  expenditure; 
they  are  gained  by  the  exercise  of  right  feeling  and  judgment,  and  are 
as  appKcable  to  the  simple  village  church  as  to  the  more  extensive  and 
costly  structure  of  the  town.  Where,  however,  they  are  not  appreciated 
and  the  designer  goes  in  quest  of  "features"  to  add,  to  make  the  build- 
ing look  "pretty,"  picturesque,  or  showy,  a  grand  opportunity  is  lost, 
and  often  an  extra  expense  incurred  that  very  likely  results  in  the  resort 
to  imitations  or  unworthy  materials  to  accomplish  the  end.  Thereby 
the  church  becomes  monumental  only  to  the  ignorance  or  low  views  of 
those  who  erected  it.  As  is  frequently  the  case  with  evil,  one  wrong 
step  in  a  matter  of  principle  has  led  to  others  to  cover  it,  and  the  result 
is  hopelessly  bad. 


EDUCATIONAL  VALUES  OF  CHURCH  ARCHITECTURE     481 

4.  Beauty.  It  is  evident  that  durability,  sincerity,  and  dignity  are 
indispensable  bases  for  beauty  in  all  monumental  work.  Where  they 
are  assured,  respect  and  admiration  are  likely  to  follow.  In  one  of  our 
cemeteries  somewhat  noted  for  its  natural  charm  is  the  resting-place  of 
an  officer  of  the  Civil  War,  a  man  of  great  modesty  and  worth,  whose 
frankness  and  simplicity  of  character  were  equaled  only  by  his  fidelity 
and  courage.  His  appreciative  friends,  mindful  of  his  love  for  nature, 
selected  a  quiet  nook  beneath  great  overhanging  trees  for  his  burial, 
and  there  erected  a  simple  but  impressive  memorial — a  low  massive 
cross,  roughly  hewn  from  a  great  granite  boulder;  the  lines  being  free 
and  irregular,  and  as  far  as  possible  having  the  feeling  of  a  natural  stone, 
while  suggesting  the  cross.  Now  this  fitting  and  admirable  monument, 
so  permanent,  honest,  and  dignified,  expresses  strongly  the  qualities 
already  emphasized,  and  mainly  from  them  gains  its  simple  beauty. 
W^ould  not  the  rural  church,  true  to  the  same  principle,  possess  a  very 
decided  charm  of  its  ow^n,  even  though  it  lacked  in  many  points  the 
artistic  treatment  that  we  rightly  regard  as  conducive  to  high  excellence, 
and  this  because  they  are  fundamental  and  essential  to  the  beauty  of 
any  worthy  memorial?  Beyond  them,  however,  lies  the  whole  realm 
of  Art,  capable  of  giving  refinement  and  character  to  buildings  by  pro- 
portion, contrast,  detail,  and  the  various  forms  of  expression  familiar 
to  the  trained  artist,  transforming  clumsiness  to  grace,  relieving  monotony 
by  harmonious  variation,  and  baldness  by  expressive  detail.  The  value 
of  this  is  especially  felt  in  the  larger  and  more  important  buildings,  but 
in  all  of  them  the  influence  of  a  refined  and  skilled  design  adds  a  subtle 
charm  which  we  call  beauty.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  building 
that  is  to  stand  as  a  monument  to  so  much  that  is  itself  lovely  should 
possess  this  in  as  high  a  degree  as  possible. 

The  matter  of  church  decoration  has  been  associated  with  archi- 
tecture in  my  subject,  but  I  have  felt  that  the  homelier,  more  essential 
qualities  to  render  a  building  monumental  needed  chief  emphasis. 
The  tendency  is  a  common  one  to  give  little  attention  to  the  funda- 
mental qualities  and  overmuch  to  the  ornamental  or  superficial.  As 
yet  our  country  has  developed  few  mural  painters  of  any  special  excel- 
lence; and  rather  than  impair  the  good  results  within  their  reach,  the 
most  thoughtful  architects  have  preferred  to  develop  the  possibihties 
of  architectural  form  and  detail,  toning  it  quietly  rather  than  venture 
into  hazardous  pictorial  effects.  It  will  doubtless  take  a  considerable 
time  to  train  a  school  of  decorators  who  shall  handle  great  Scriptural 
subjects  in  the  manner  to  make  them  not  only  harmonious  with  their 
surroundings,  but  of  real  educational  value  as  well. 


482  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

One  very  practical  course,  however,  is  open  to  us — the  forming  picto- 
rial collections  for  certain  rooms  or  departments  of  the  church.  Every 
church  should  in  some  one  of  its  halls  gather  everything  of  pictorial 
or  historical  interest  relating  to  its  past:  pictures  of  its  buildings,  its 
ministers,  and  workers;  of  events  and  of  places,  as  well  as  of  objects 
connected  in  any  way  with  its  history.  All  these  things  seem  to  increase 
the  esprit  de  corps  and  promote  interest  in  and  love  for  the  church.  In 
another  department  may  be  gathered  a  fine  collection  of  prints  illustrat- 
ing sacred  events,  of  which  many  excellent  ones  can  be  secured  from 
our  leading  print  dealers:  such  subjects  as  "Christ  Walking  on  the 
Water,"  by  Jalabert;  "The  Light  of  the  World,"  by  Holman  Hunt; 
and  many  fine  pictures  of  Hofmann,  Zimmermann,  Kellar,  and  others 
that  set  forth  the  tenderness  and  love  of  Christ,  His  sympathy  and  help- 
fulness. These  collections  will  gain  much  by  a  simple,  tasteful  framing 
of  uniform  character,  each  having  a  little  brass  tablet  attached  giving 
the  title  of  the  picture.  The  educational  value  of  a  good  collection  of 
this  kind  is  likely  to  be  very  great. 

My  third  suggestion  is  of  still  another  department  or  room,  to  have 
a  collection  (framed  in  a  similar  manner)  of  photographs  of  the  land 
in  which  Christ  lived ;  of  its  scenery,  people,  and  customs  as  they  appear 
today.  Such  pictures  give  reality  to  the  study  of  the  Bible.  An  excel- 
lent collection  can  now  be  formed  at  a  very  moderate  expense. 

By  these  several  schemes  the  advantage  of  pictorial  illustration  and 
teaching  can  be  gained,  while  waiting  for  great  artists  to  arise  who  shall 
make  the  v/alls  eloquent  with  noble  imagery ;  and  for  those  perhaps  who 
could  never  afford  such  costly  and  valuable  decorations. 

What,  then,  shall  we  esteem  the  educational  value  of  a  building  to 
be  that  by  its  unusual  permanence,  dignity,  and  truthfulness  speaks  of  a 
noble  purpose  quite  other  than  that  of  the  more  ephemeral  structures 
about  it;  a  building  that  is  calm  and  restful  amid  the  feverish  haste  and 
the  nervous  pressure  of  the  time;  a  building  that  speaks  of  affectionate 
devotion  and  sacrifice,  as  against  self-interest,  an  absorbing  passion  for 
gain  or  pleasure;  a  building  that  is  associated  most  intimately  with  all 
that  is  tender  and  sacred  in  life  and  death ;  and  that  ever  stands  as  a 
witness  to  the  presence  and  goodness  of  God  ? 


CLUBS   AND   CLASSES   FOR  THE   STUDY   OF   RELIGIOUS 
PICTORIAL  ART 

MISS  HARRIET  CECIL  MAGEE, 

STATE   NORMAL   SCHOOL,   OSHKOSH,   WISCONSIN 

Before  the  coming  of  our  Lord,  when  the  keen  intellect  of  the  Greek 
was  ever  seeking  for  something  new,  Plato  sat  at  the  feet  of  Socrates 
and  conversed  with  the  great  teacher.  By  means  of  conversation  knowl- 
edge was  conveyed  from  one  mind  to  another.  In  the  Middle  Ages 
came  the  minnesingers  of  Germany,  the  scalds  of  Norway,  and  the 
troubadours  of  southwestern  Europe.  By  them  many  a  heart  was  fired 
wath  chivalrous  emotions  and  many  a  youth  moved  to  deeds  of  love  and 
glory,  in  that  school  of  folklore  and  romance  the  poet's  thought- world 
swung  forward  glad  and  gay.  At  the  close  of  the  dark  ages  the  painter 
was  the  first  to  light  the  candle  of  knowledge.  The  common  people 
were  taught  great  truths  by  the  brush,  and  form  and  color  symboled 
forth  the  spiritual  teaching  of  the  age.  They  were  not  all  good  things 
that  were  taught,  because  the  mind  of  the  artist  was  not  always  that  of 
a  Era  Angelico.  But  these  pictures  carried  to  the  people  the  message 
the  artist  wished  to  give,  and  carried  it  in  a  manner  impossible  to  any 
other  vehicle  then  known.  In  the  eighteenth  and  nineteenth  centuries 
the  printing-press  became  all-powerful;  and  men  forgot  the  troubadour 
and  the  painter,  almost  forgot  Nature  and  her  loveliness,  in  their  devo- 
tion to  the  making  of  many  books. 

Beginning  in  the  last  century,  we  find  a  new  means  of  disseminating 
knowledge.  It  began  as  a  society  and  has  evolved  through  many 
periods,  dropping  some  of  its  characteristics  and  taking  on  new  ones. 
At  first  a  certain  number  of  congenial  souls  met  together  for  the  pur- 
pose of  considering  certain  religious,  moral,  intellectual,  or  aesthetic 
principles.  Later  came  the  smaller  group  composed  of  persons  desirous 
of  gaining  more  and  fuller  information  concerning  some  particular 
phase  of  one  of  these  general  subjects.  These  eager  souls  formed  them- 
selves into  classes,  sought  out  teachers,  and  applied  themselves  to  home 
study.  Following  this  movement  came  the  "circle."  Of  this  we  have 
every  variety,  from  the  sewing  circle,  characterized  as  a  place  for  tea  and 
scandal,  to  the  Chautauqua  circle,  in  which  the  members  counted  their 
"seals"  as  rewards  of  merit  for  reading  a  certain  number  of  knowledge- 
made-easy  books.  Today,  in  the  waxing  light  of  the  new  century, 
"club"  is  the  word  we  conjure  with. 

483 


484  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

If  one  wishes  to  feed  the  poor  or  upHft  the  downtrodden,  to  ener- 
gize the  shiftless  or  inform  the  ignorant,  he  goes  to  the  people  and  lives 
with  them  at  least  during  the  session  of  the  club  meeting.  People  have 
become  tired  of  being  preached  to,  lectured  to,  read  to,  and  hammered 
upon  indiscriminately.  The  soul-metal  of  the  twentieth  century  is  not 
so  malleable  as  in  earlier  ages  perhaps.  We  find  that  we  need  to  go 
back  and  follow  the  example  of  Jesus  when  the  hearts  of  two  of  His 
disciples  burned  within  them,  as  He  walked  and  talked  with  them. 
The  thinking  world  realizes  this  today;  and  everywhere  men,  women, 
and  children  are  being  walked  and  talked  with  for  moral,  religious, 
and  political  reasons. 

Our  churches  and  Sunday  schools  have  until  recently  had  too  little 
of  this  method  in  their  work.  There  are  in  connection  with  some 
churches  a  men's  club,  a  mothers'  club,  a  boys'  semi-military  club,  and 
perhaps  a  girls'  industrial  or  literary  club.  No  one  of  these  bears  in 
any  direct  way  upon  religious  education.  Each  may  be  carried  on 
independently  of  church  relations,  as  well  as  in  connection  with 
them.  There  is  a  field  of  education,  as  yet  almost  untrodden,  which 
is  distinctly  religious^that  of  religious  pictorial  art.  Across  this  field 
I  have  been  asked  to  point  the  way.  I  do  so  timidly,  almost  unwillingly, 
trusting  that  when  I  point  in  the  wrong  direction  there  will  be  someone 
ready  and  willing  to  show  a  better  and  safer  path.  I  shall  be  only  too 
glad  to  follow  where  he  leads. 

I.  Aim  and  scope.  "Art  is  the  gift  of  God,  and  must  be  used  unto 
His  glory."  In  all  nations,  among  all  peoples,  and  at  all  times  of  early 
racial  development,  art  is  found  to  be  the  offspring  of  rehgion.  The 
religious  nature  of  man,  striving  for  adequate  expression,  carves  the 
statue  or  paints  the  picture  of  the  gods  worshiped.  "Love,"  said  Plato 
"taught  men  the  arts  of  genius."  Love  is  always  an  actuating  principle 
in  artistic  creation.  Man's  love  of  his  God,  his  country,  or  himself 
has  erected  temples,  statues,  monuments,  and  tombs.  Religion,  patri- 
otism, all  forms  of  strong  spiritual  fervor,  seek  artistic  expression. 
True,  among  early  nations  religious  fervor  was  not  unmixed  with  civic 
rivalries  and  personal  ambitions;  but  that  it  was  uppermost  in  the  mind 
and  the  affections  cannot  be  questioned.  This  is  not  true  of  art 
today.  However  crude  and  mistaken  were  the  religious  ideas  of  the 
ancients,  however  terrible  and  un-Christlike  were  the  spiritual  con- 
ceptions of  the  Middle  Ages,  art  was  closely  connected  with  the  spiritual 
life  of  the  people.  Perhaps  the  materialistic  Roman  of  the  second  cen- 
tury looked  upon  Greek  art  more  as  the  rank  and  file  of  Americans 
today  look  upon  European  art  of  the  fifteenth,  sixteenth,  and  seven- 


THE  STUDY  OF  RELIGIOUS  PICTORIAL  ART  485 

teenth  centuries.  Art  has  been  almost  divorced  from  that  which  is 
reUgious  or  educational.  Many  think  of  it  as  merely  the  frill  on  the  gar- 
ments of  the  rich,  the  decoration  of  the  palace,  or  the  regalia  of  royalty. 
The  application  of  art  to  the  gratification  of  man's  ambition,  pride,  and 
self-glorification — the  prostitution  of  the  heavenly  gift — is  almost  all 
that  is  recognized  as  its  function. 

To  get  out  of  such  wrong  habits  of  thought,  to  return  to  the  primitive 
simplicity  and  original  motives  of  all  genuinely  artistic  creations,  should 
be  one  of  the  aims  of  the  work  undertaken  by  competent  persons  in  con- 
nection with  the  religious  education  of  the  children  and  youth  in  our 
Bible  schools  and  churches.  It  is  true  that  there  was  a  time  when  some 
of  the  people  of  Christian  Europe  lapsed  into  semi-paganism  and  used 
the  painting  or  statue  of  Christ  and  His  mother  as  something  to  be 
worshiped — holding  blindly  to  the  symbol  instead  of  that  which  was 
symbolized;  and  it  is  also  true  that  fear  of  a  return  to  those  abuses  has 
prevented  our  Protestant  churches  from  using  the  matchless  art  of  an 
Angelo  or  a  Raphael  as  a  factor  in  religious  education.  But  there  is 
not  the  slightest  danger  that  such  a  thing  will  occur  today  in  the 
Protestant  churches  of  America.  The  great  danger  to  the  American 
youth  is  not  that  he  shall  worship  a  picture  or  a  statue,  but  that  he 
shall  worship  nothing,  except  possibly  the  almighty  dollar  or  the  man 
that  makes  it. 

Pictorial  art  has  long  been  considered  one  of  the  most  important 
factors  in  secular  education;  and  the  picture  card  and  the  scroll  came 
into  our  Bible  schools  years  ago.  But  the  use  of  classic  art  as  well  as 
of  classic  music  as  adjuncts  to  the  forces  of  our  new  education  has  not 
been  sufficiently  recognized  in  our  methods  of  religious  instruction.  A 
knowledge  of  secular  history  is  thought  indispensable  to  the  student  of 
the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  and  the  historical  method  is  followed  in  the  study 
of  the  Bible.  Now,  we  cannot  study  the  history  of  the  race  without 
studying  the  art  remains  of  ancient  peoples;  for  the  life  of  every  country, 
archaic  or  modern,  is  reflected  in  its  art.  If  the  history  and  language 
of  a  race  are  studied  in  the  light  of  its  art,  its  religion  must  be.  And  if 
the  Bible  is  studied  in  the  light  of  history,  it  follows  that  a  knowledge 
of  art  is  a  factor  in  that  study. 

To  lead  out  the  mind  to  the  full  development  of  all  its  powers  should 
be  a  possibility  within  the  scope  of  religious  education.  One  of  these 
powers  is  the  power  to  appreciate  beauty.  In  secular  instruction  this 
is  recognized.  School  buildings  and  schoolrooms  are  made  pleasing 
and  attractive  in  so  far  as  those  having  authority  to  construct  are  com- 
petent to  create.    In  some  cases,  to  be  sure,  competency  is  sadly  inade- 


486  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

quate  and  ugliness  and  gaudy  vulgarity  predominate.  But  in  many  sec- 
tions of  this  broad  land  creditable  work  is  being  done  and  almost  every- 
where the  necessity  for  such  work  is  felt.  All  attempts  for  the  amuse- 
ment of  the  people  made  by  people  having  their  commercial  interests 
only  at  heart  take  this  desire  of  beauty  into  consideration,  and  time 
and  money  are  spent  to  excess  for  this  purpose  chiefly.  No  other  factor 
enters  more  largely  into  the  money-making  plans  of  the  dramatic  ele- 
ment of  our  public  amusements  than  the  spectacular.  The  majority 
of  theatrical  performances  of  the  day  depend  as  largely  upon  the  splendor, 
novelty,  and  aesthetic  features  of  the  stage  furnishings  as  they  do  upon 
the  skill  of  the  performers.  The  effort  everywhere  is  to  satisfy  this 
longing  of  the  human  soul — the  desire  for  beauty.  This  want  has  been 
felt  by  the  church  and  Bible  school.  Attempts  have  been  made  to  satisfy 
it,  but  these  attempts  have  been  in  many  instances  but  a  weak  imitation 
of  the  gorgeous  playhouse,  and  have  frequently  done  more  harm  than 
good.  The  office  of  religious  education  to  lead  out  all  the  powers  of 
the  mind — the  aesthetic  as  well  as  the  ethical — has  not  been  recognized 
sanely.  What  has  been  done  in  this  direction  has  been  done  in  a  weak, 
imitating  way. 

The  culture-value  of  religious  pictorial  art  may  be  very  great.  The 
intellectual  culture  gained  by  the  great  mass  of  our  Bible-school  chil- 
dren is  not  great.  Nor  do  the  youth  of  our  Bible  schools  and  churches 
have  presented  to  them  in  the  church  "social"  what  they  need  most 
in  the  form  of  social  uplift  and  general  culture.  Pure  religion  always 
exerts  a  refining  influence.  It  cultivates  the  heart  and  promotes  the 
true  growth  of  all  the  virtues.  There  are  many  persons  who  are  and 
should  be  attracted  to  the  church  and  Sunday  school  to  whom  these 
organizations  may  become  a  savor  of  life  unto  life;  and  to  such  there 
must  be  presented  that  which  shall  awaken  thought  and  stir  the  higher 
emotions  rather  than  those  things  which  appeal  wholly  to  the  harmless 
craving  every  healthy  youth  has  for  food  and  fun.  I  fear  that  there 
are  many  sensitive,  refined  natures  turned  away  from  rehgious  influences 
because  the  offered  religion  is  done  up  in  such  gaudy  colors  that  it  is 
made  uninviting,  absolutely  commonplace  and  vulgar.  In  the  earnest 
efforts  made  by  many  good  Christian  people  in  the  past  generation  to 
lop  off  from  the  simple,  beautiful  religion  of  our  Lord  and  Savior  the 
gloom  and  formalism  beneath  which  so  many  churches  have  hidden  it, 
there  has  been  a  going  over  to  the  other  extreme — an  undue  familiarity 
with  holy  truths  and  sacred  experiences  which  shocks  some  natures 
and  offends  others.  Religious  education  in  its  deepest  and  most  prac- 
tical sense  is  what  we  need  today  in  the  social  and  educational  aspects 


THE  STUDY  OF  RELIGIOUS  PICTORIAL  ART  487 

of  our  churches.  There  should  be  a  dignity  given  to  every  phase  of  reli- 
gious education;  and  all  things  in  connection  with  the  house  of  God, 
whether  devotional  or  social,  should  hold  an  honorable  place — a  place 
worthy  of  respect  in  the  mind  of  children  and  youth. 

The  study  of  religious  pictorial  art  and  sacred  music  would,  if  prop- 
erly conducted,  do  more  for  the  religious  education  of  the  children  and 
youth  in  our  Sunday  schools  and  churches  than  any  other  agency  pos- 
sible for  us  to  exercise  in  connection  with  the  faithful  study  of  the 
Scriptures. 

2.  Method.  Any  church  in  a  city  or  large  town  may  form  a  depart- 
ment club  for  the  study  of  religious  pictorial  art  and  sacred  music.  It 
may  consist  of  a  general  club,  holding  monthly  or  semimonthly  meet- 
ings at  which  such  a  program  of  art  and  music  shall  be  furnished  as 
will  be  of  general  interest.  A  small  admission  fee  may  be  charged  for 
the  purpose  of  raising  a  fund  for  the  purchase  of  pictures  and  music  for 
the  Bible  school.  The  membership  of  this  club  may  consist  of  men 
and  women,  young  and  old — of  all  who  are  at  all  interested  in  either  art 
or  music.  This  club  should  have  regular  officers,  with  an  executive 
board.  The  president,  together  with  the  board,  should  formulate  plans 
of  study,  entertainment,  and  general  usefulness  in  connection  with  the 
church  and  Bible  school. 

The  club  may  be  divided  into  several  departments,  such  as  (i)  one 
for  the  study  of  the  history  of  religious  pictorial  art;  (2)  one  for  picture 
study  for  illustration  of  Sunday-school  lessons;  (3)  one  for  the  decora- 
tion of  Sunday-school  rooms;  (4)  one  for  the  study  of  religious  music. 

The  first  department,  confining  itself  wholly  to  the  history  of  reli- 
gious pictorial  art,  may  consider  such  topics  as  (a)  pagan  art  as  pagan 
thought  materialized;  (b)  Christian  art  as  an  interpretation  of  Bible 
story,  and  revelation  of  an  artist's  ideas  modified  by  his  time  and  place 
in  the  Christian  era ;  (c)  comparative  study  of  the  art  of  Christian  coun- 
tries with  that  of  China,  Japan,  India,  and  Turkey;  (d)  symboHsm  in 
religious  art. 

In  the  second  department,  picture  study  for  illustration,  great  care 
should  be  exercised  in  the  choice  and  interpretation  of  the  pictures.  All 
illustrations  are  used  for  one  of  two  purposes:  to  impress  truths  already 
understood,  or  to  clear  obscurities  in  the  mind  of  the  student.  Pictorial 
illustrations  for  Sunday-school  work  may  be  photographs  of  persons, 
places,  or  imaginary  scenes,  reproductions  of  good  photographs  of  the 
same,  all  either  large,  held  before  a  class  or  school,  or  small,  for  the  indi- 
vidual pupil.  The  blackboard,  too,  may  be  used  by  the  skilled  teacher, 
and  symbolism  in  form  and  color  used  to  illustrate  in  a  clear  and  beautiful 


488  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

way.  On  the  part  of  the  teachers  and  officers  of  the  Sunday  school 
there  must  be  a  careful  study  of  the  pictures  best  suited  to  the  illustra- 
tion of  the  subjects  taught  in  the  lesson  periods.  There  may  also  be 
picture  days  in  the  Sunday  school,  when  instead  of  the  quarterly  review, 
or  in  connection  with  that,  pictures  may  be  reviewed  or  new  ones  studied. 

In  the  third  department,  that  for  the  decoration  of  Sunday-school 
rooms,  assembly  rooms,  and  class-rooms,  the  work  may  be  done  as  in 
the  school  and  class-room  of  our  buildings  for  secular  education.  But 
the  subjects  should  be  in  many  cases  different.  Those  used  in  the  church 
building  should  bear  directly  on  the  religious  education  of  the  child. 
These  pictures  may  be  large  and  should  be  well  placed.  The  sub- 
ject should  be  suited  to  the  age  of  the  children  occupying  the  room. 
Special  exhibits  of  good  pictures  may  be  held  during  the  week  for  the 
benefit  of  the  whole  school  and  church.  Series  of  pictures  given  by 
lantern  slides,  and  explained  by  a  sympathetic,  appreciative  speaker, 
will  contribute  much  to  the  awakening  of  thought,  and  to  the  furnishing 
of  the  mind  with  images  lasting  and  beautiful.  We  should  always 
remember  that  if  we  can  fill  a  child's  mind  with  good  images  there  will 
be  no  room  for  bad  ones. 

In  the  fourth  department,  that  for  the  study  of  religious  music,  such 
topics  as  the  following  may  be  chosen:  (a)  history  of  religious  music; 
{b)  study  of  the  great  oratorios;  (c)  hymnology. 

In  order  to  carry  on  such  an  organization  as  this,  competent  leaders 
and  teachers  must  be  provided.  There  are  plenty  of  people  able  to  do 
this,  if  their  talents  and  time  were  fully  consecrated  to  the  Master's 
service.  There  is  no  lack  of  working  material  in  a  woman's  club. 
There  are  always  competent  persons  found  to  work  out  a  program  on  any 
subject  under  the  sun,  and  these  persons  are  generally  members  of  the 
club  for  which  the  work  is  planned.  However,  if  a  club  is  particularly 
weak  or  humble-minded,  an  expert  is  sought  and  a  club  program  paid 
for.  Why  could  not  this  be  done  in  our  churches  ?  Christmas  and 
Easter  music,  with  appropriate  programs,  may  always  be  purchased. 
Why  not  purchase  the  art  program  also  ?  There  are,  I  think,  quite 
a  number  of  rehgious  art  talks  or  lectures  arranged  for  stereopticon 
illustration.  These  might  be  worked  over  and  improved  upon  until 
something  at  least  as  good  as  the  average  Christmas  or  Easter  Sunday- 
school  musical  programs  was  obtained.  If  there  was  a  demand  for  such 
illustrated  subjects,  the  illustrations  would  be  forthcoming. 

Great  care  should  be  taken  in  the  selection  of  competent  persons 
to  outline  and  carry  on  this  work.  Not  everyone  supposed  to  possess 
"artistic  feeling"  should  be  called  upon.     There  is  a  sort  of  artistic 


THE  STUDY  OF  RELIGIOUS  PICTORIAL  ART  489 

feeling  sometimes  called  appreciation  of  beauty,  or  Kstheticism,  that 
does  not  make  for  righteousness,  but  expresses  itself  in  a  dilettante  man- 
ner unworthy  of  true  art.  A  man  or  woman  having  such  so-called 
artistic  notions  should  never  be  placed  as  a  teacher  or  leader  in  art 
studies,  especially  if  the  students  are  children  and  youth.  More  neces- 
sary than  all  other  requisites  for  him  who  would  attempt  to  use  religious 
pictorial  art  as  a  factor  in  the  education  of  our  young  people  is  spiritual 
insight.  That  there  are  persons  possessed  of  artistic  feeling  and  keen 
spiritual  insight  in  connection  with  many  of  our  churches  I  feel  confident. 
In  the  twentieth  century  Art  must  be  used  as  a  friend  to  religious 
education,  not  as  a  servant  or  a  foe.  It  must  be  used  to  make  eye- 
minded  men  and  w^omen.  For  the  present-day  psychologists  teach  us 
that  the  eye-minded  are  the  most  intellectual,  that  sense  impressions 
received  through  sight  are  of  a  higher  order  than  those  received  through 
any  other  sense.  For  this  reason  alone  the  delights  of  the  eye  should 
be  afforded  to  the  child ;  and  it  rests  with  those  who  present  these  dehghts 
to  see  to  it  that  only  the  purest  and  best  things  are  presented.  The 
sense  of  sight  should  not  be  addressed  by  that  which  is  debasing  or  in 
any  sense  vulgar  or  unclean.  We  must  go  back  to  the  old  Greek  phi- 
losophy and  say  with  Plato:  "He  who  would  proceed  aright  should 
begin  in  youth  to  study  beautiful  forms,  until  he  grows  and  waxes 
strong,  and  at  last  the  vision  is  revealed  to  him  of  beauty  absolute, 
simple  and  everlasting,  and  in  that  communion  he  is  enabled  to  become 
the  friend  of  God  and  to  be  immortal." 


THE  RELIGIOUS  VALUES   OF  LITERATURE 

PROFESSOR  WILLIAM  D.  MacCLINTOCK, 

THE  UNIVERSITY  OF   CHICAGO,   CHICAGO 

There  is  an  infinite  distance  between  the  hard,  mid- Victorian  days 
when  Matthew  Arnold  declared  that  the  world  would  gradually  take 
refuge  in  poetry  rather  than  religion,  and  our  brighter  moment  when 
Santayana  points  out  that  the  imagination  has  an  essentially  religious 
function  and  religion  a  poetic  nature,  while  "at  their  point  of  union 
both  reach  their  utmost  purity  and  beneficence,  for  then  poetry  loses  its 
frivolity  and  ceases  to  demoralize,  while  religion  surrenders  its  illusions 
and  ceases  to  deceive."  One  states  the  relation  of  art  and  religion  as  that 
of  rivalry;  the  other  that,  starting  with  different  functions  and  respecting 
their  natural  limitations,  they  assist  each  other  in  the  moral  interpreta- 
tion of  life  and  further  the  progress  of  ideal  states  of  consciousness 
and  society.  Some  such  connection  must  be  assumed  in  any  serious 
endeavor  to  place  religious  education  among  the  strong,  fascinating 
mental  interests  of  our  day,  where  the  delight  in  art  also  holds  a  large 
and  growing  place. 

To  speak  of  the  religious  values  of  literature  is  almost  the  same  as 
thinking  of  the  religious  values  of  life  itself,  for  literature  takes  as  its 
province  no  less  than  the  whole  field  of  human  good  and  evil.  Because 
of  its  permanent  creations  also,  it  lays  at  the  feet  of  the  mind  the  pecuUar 
ideals  and  feelings  of  all  past  ages,  thus  reflecting  much  of  human  folly 
in  both  religion  and  morals.  Literature  is  one  of  the  instruments  of 
pleasure,  and  too  often  of  trivial  pleasure.  As  in  life  itself,  then,  some 
principle  of  selection  is  needed,  some  inquiry  as  to  what,  in  the  peculiar 
nature  of  literature  as  one  of  the  arts,  possesses  a  religious  value. 

A  special  pedagogical  problem  arises  from  the  fact  that  the  mind 
normally  adopts  a  theology  and  body  of  religious  feelings  long  before 
it  has  a  conscious  pleasure  in  the  human  arts,  that  prevailingly  it  comes 
to  literature  just  at  the  time  of  its  first  mental  doubts  as  to  its  rehgious 
ideas.  Hence  letters  have  been  often  an  agent  for  expressing  and 
deepening  those  doubts  rather  than  staying,  solving,  or  diverting  them. 

It  is  needful  first  to  state  in  what  and  for  what  reasons  literature 
may  be  a  detriment  to  the  religious  consciousness. 

I.  There  is  an  apparent  opposition  to  religion  in  the  frequent  way 
in  which  literature  has  satirized  and  denounced  its  agents,  teachers, 
institutions,  and  forms.    The  priest  has  been  throughout  the  world  a 

49» 


THE  RELIGIOUS  VALUES  OF  LITERATURE  491 

favorite  butt  of  comedy,  ridicule,  and  positive  dislike.  The  hypocrite 
secures  for  the  rehgion  he  abuses  much  scorn,  not  all  of  it  unmerited. 
The  popular  tendency  to  combine  with  religious  speech  and  practice 
all  manner  of  prides,  worldly  successes,  politics,  and  social  proprieties, 
to  secure  the  sanctions  of  religious  teachers  to  schemes  for  personal 
delight  or  social  wrong-doing — all  has  furnished  rich  food  for  the  satirist. 

This  opposition  appears  again  from  the  force  of  the  tendency  in 
religious  matters  to  define  dogmas,  to  fix  creeds,  to  make  uniform  and 
inelastic  all  expressions,  rites,  and  institutions.  This  contravenes  the 
instinct,  particularly  of  the  young,  for  freshness,  flexibility,  and  variety 
of  action.  Art  has  thus  been  frequently  one  of  the  forces  for  breaking 
up  this  state  of  convention,  and  hence  has  often  seemed  antagonistic 
to  current  religious  practice. 

The  arts  of  expression,  too,  when  applied  directly  to  religious  themes 
have  a  tendency  to  become  general,  so  as  to  help  large  numbers  of  people 
in  hymns,  common  prayers,  and  celebrations  of  the  religious  year. 
They  avoid  also  detailed,  personal,  human  language  when  dealing  with 
God  or  His  special  representatives.  This  forces  the  language  of  reli- 
gious expression  away  from  the  picturesque,  specific,  personal  imagery 
of  literature  and  creates  at  first  a  seeming  opposition  between  them. 

But  this  works  for  the  perfection  of  religious  conduct  and  speech. 
Nothing  serves  it  more  than  to  make  its  agents  and  spokesmen  honest 
in  motive  and  deed,  and  to  make  them  take  part  with  the  rest  of  mankind 
in  ideal  manners  and  essentially  social  behavior.  If  literature  dislikes 
the  official  speech  of  religion,  it  is  an  opposition,  not  to  its  spirit,  but  to 
its  dress,  wherein  religion  needs  to  be  taught  the  grace  and  good  sense 
of   a   reasonable   modernity. 

2.  But  there  is  a  real  and  vital  opposition  between  much  literature 
and  literary  study  and  the  spirit  of  religion — an  opposition  which  can 
be  dissipated  only  by  conversion  and  confession  of  wrong  on  the  part 
of  one  of  the  interests.  Most  of  the  literature  of  the  world  is  written 
by  men  still  young,  and  the  greater  things  before  the  middle  of  their 
lives.  It  is  equally  natural  that  whatever  of  religious  doubt  or  irreligious 
conduct  one's  hfe  shows  should  also  come  early.  Indeed,  the  sub- 
stantial aspects  of  religion  may  be  said  to  be  on  the  whole  the  product 
of  maturing  years  and  rich  experience.  We  may  expect  literature, 
therefore,  to  reflect  the  seething,  unsettled,  individualistic  mind  of  the 
vigorous  young. 

Again,  many  young  people  turn  to  literature  after  their  first  social 
disappointments.  The  period  when  brilliant  pictures  of  an  attractive, 
distant  life,  when  the  noble  music  of  verse,  when  penetrating  aphorisms 


492  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

appeal  to  them  most  strongly,  is  that  in  which  they  are  just  learning 
the  hardness  of  the  human  lot,  the  sad  limitations  of  freedom  by  hard 
circumstances,  and  the  vanishing  evidences  of  benevolent  providence 
in  their  experience.  Others  turn  from  gloomy,  unideal  experiences 
with  religion  in  their  childhood — dull  services,  unlovely  teachers,  bug- 
bears of  religious  fright — to  literature  as  to  a  sunny,  free,  ideal  world. 
One  may  read  Keats  anywhere  in  the  world ;  but  he  is  obliged  tO'  receive 
his  first  reUgious  teaching  in  a  single  family  and  a  definite  place  of  wor- 
ship. These  may  be  most  unhappy;  and  literature  may  stand  in 
glorious  contrast  to  them. 

It  may  further  be  noted  how  many  teachers  of  literature  are  men 
who  do  not  further  the  cause  of  piety.  They  may  be  linguistic  scientists 
and  so  indifferent;  or  philosophic  skeptics  who  find  in  literature  satis- 
factory expressions  for  their  views  which  they  would  not  teach  directly. 
The  effect  of  their  selection  of  masterpieces,  of  careless  insinuation,  of 
pleasant  comedy  is  often  highly  antagonistic  to  the  needs  of  religion. 

In  the  same  way  many  poorly  trained  philosophers  and  theologians 
are  great  poets — at  least  those  who  have  a  deep  sense  of  the  artistic  side 
of  letters.  They  are  subject  to  no  discipline  or  testing  in  the  handling 
of  subject-matter  and  present  us  brilliant  expressions  of  hobbledehoy 
or  sappy  thinking.  This  reasoning,  lying  chiefly  in  the  assumptions 
behind  figures  and  symbols,  in  the  choice  of  characters,  situations, 
and  outcome  of  stories,  is  not  subject  of  direct  statement  and  hence  of 
logical  testing.  It  is  therefore  harmful  to  morals  and  piety,  though  given 
out  with  the  air  of  universal  validity.  There  is  no  reason  for  assuming 
that  a  literary  man  as  such  has  special  access  to  settled  truth  or  special 
care  about  social  welfare.  Indeed,  it  may  be  pointed  out  that  artists, 
as  a  class,  have  a  relatively  slight  sense  of  social  obligation,  being  easily 
offended  at  the  bad  taste  of  the  average  world,  set  scornful  by  the  slow 
working  of  ideas  in  the  region  of  practical  affairs,  resisting  the  duty  of 
strenuous,  personal  endeavor  to  correct  the  world's  evil  or  mitigate  its 
pain. 

Here  again  we  notice  how  much  of  literature  is  the  product  of  experi- 
mentation, personal  whim,  of  social  accident,  hasty  retaliation  upon 
life  for  pain,  and  the  indulgence  of  passion.  This  irreligion  seizes  upon 
art  for  a  carrying  medium  because,  as  a  form,  it  admits  of  the  most 
personal  uses  and  possesses  the  most  interesting  and  far-reaching 
appeals. 

For  all  these  reasons  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  so  much  of  the 
world's  literature  arouses  and  feeds  religious  unrest  or  opposition,  and 
that  many  young  people  find  the  first  effect  of  artistic  study  unfavorable 
to  the  spirit  of  religion. 


THE  RELIGIOUS  VALUES  OF  LITERATURE  493 

3.  But  even  when  the  art  of  letters  is  not  seemingly  antagonistic  to 
religion  by  its  satire  upon  phases  of  religious  activity  and  thinking,  or 
is  not  actually  unfavorable  because  it  conveys  corrupt  morals  or  unwise 
thinking,  it  may  still  prove  a  diversion  from  piety  by  legitimate  elements 
in  its  nature  and  appeal.  Being  an  art,  it  is  the  product  of  the  spirit  of 
pleasure,  and  its  primary  function  is  that  of  pleasing  the  mind.  To  be 
sure,  our  aesthetics  points  out  that  this  is  artistic  pleasure,  that  it  is 
impossible  without  the  use  and  conservation  of  the  serious  elements  of 
the  mind,  and  that  in  its  higher  forms  it  makes  as  strenuous  appeal  as 
morality  against  the  indulgent  and  destructive  tendencies  of  our  nature. 
But  much  of  our  literature  is  playful  and  gay,  even  when  not  trivial, 
and  most  of  it  absorbs  the  mind  in  moods  other  than  the  serious  concerns 
of  religion.  For  religion,  besides  its  moments  of  exaltation,  is,  in  the 
mind  first  yielding  to  its  claims,  rather  a  motive  to  duty,  to  control  of 
personal  pleasure,  an  urgency  to  the  painful  work  of  conquering  the 
world's  pain  and  misery.  At  such  moments  art  may  come  as  a  relief 
from  the  more  urgent  demands  of  faith. 

Again,  art  deals  most  naturally  and  widely  with  a  human,  moral 
world.  It  must  present  what  it  sees,  or  what  it  can  legitimately  imagine 
to  be  possible.  This  easily  becomes  a  detailed,  intricate  picture  of  a 
social  world  which  is  proceeding  according  to  social,  not  religious, 
motives.  Inevitably  this  includes  the  presentation  of  much  painful, 
ugly  social  material,  which  the  writer  must  either  justify  and  excuse 
or  trace  to  its  natural  human  punishment.  Lyric  poetry  may  be  directly 
religious  in  subject-matter,  and  religious  feelings  may  play  into  and 
around  drama  and  fiction.  But  only  epic  poetry  can  be  religious  in  its 
main  themes,  and  successful  only  when  richly  elaborated  by  material 
from  a  concrete  human  life.  This  absorption  of  the  mind  in  the  behav- 
iors of  an  earthly  life  made  attractive  by  all  the  arts  of  picture,  detailed 
incidents,  heroic,  or  charming  character,  and  interests  naturally  close 
to  a  living,  practical  human  being,  could  not  but  prove  more  attractive 
than  considerations  wherein  the  personages  appealing  are  unseen,  the 
issues  unsettled  or  matters  of  inference,  the  urgencies  mostly  those  of  a 
future  world,  and  ideals  which  seem  to  be  those  of  a  personal  and  social 
equilibrium  without  activity  or  surprise. 

No  mistake  could  be  greater  than  the  dream  of  substituting  the  study 
of  literature  for  religious  teaching  either  for  a  motive  for  personal  right- 
eousness, a  passion  for  the  salvation  of  others,  or  an  emotional  response 
to  a  beneficent  world-order.  There  is  even  need  for  definite  caution  as  to 
the  current  movements  for  treating  the  Bible  as  literature,  because  of  a 
tendency  in  it  to  divert  attention  from  the  Scriptures  as  a  treasury  of 


494  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

distinctly  religious  history,  experience,  and  discipline,  and  place  it  upon 
matters  that  to  the  writers  and  editors  were  entirely  unconscious.  It 
can  reasonably  be  held  that  this  diversion  to  methods  of  presentation 
creates  a  psychological  unlikelihood  that  the  serious  appeals  for  right- 
eousness will  be  effective.  There  is  Hterature  in  our  Bible;  it  may 
become  the  subject  of  purely  literary  criticism  and  enjoyment.  But 
the  fact  that  the  distinctly  religious  portions  are  given  with  many  literary 
devices  is  not  enough  to  constitute  them  works  of  art,  or  to  permit 
their  study  primarily  as  such.  As  we  passed  beyond  the  old  stage  of 
apologetics  in  which  we  tried  to  "harmonize"  religion  and  science,  by 
emphasizing  the  purpose  of  religious  writing  as  paramount,  and  its 
scientific  elements  as  subordinate  or  negligible,  so  we  must  regard  the 
fact  that  the  Bible  is  religious  history  and  teaching,  diverted  attention 
from  which  makes  a  danger  of  lowering  its  religious  value. 

Suggestions,  then,  concerning  the  permanent  relations  between  the 
art  of  letters  and  the  movements  of  religious  consciousness  should  be 
welcomed  by  teachers  of  religion.  These  may  be  found  (i)  in  the  fact 
that  there  are  some  direct  religious  values  in  literature  as  an  art  and  in 
its  noblest  masterpieces;  (2)  in  a  contribution  to  the  depth  and  flexi- 
bility to  religious  feeling  from  the  emotional  training  due  to  literature; 
and  (3)  in  the  gift  by  literature  of  many  effective  devices  for  conveying 
religious  facts  and  ideas. 

I.  The  first  of  these  matters  in  which  literature  has  a  distinct  value 
for  religion  lies  in  the  exercise,  enlargement,  and  discipline  of  the  imagi- 
nation. This  seeing,  imaging,  picturing  function  of  the  mind  is  a  large 
constituent  element  in  religious  faith.  It  is  that  which  enables  the  soul 
to  "endure  as  seeing  Him  who  is  invisible." 

The  most  fundamental  instinct  in  literary  expression  is  the  use  of 
concrete  imagery,  of  detailed  picture,  appealing,  as  it  were,  to  the  very 
senses.  Literature  avoids  general  statements,  seeing  its  world  as  a 
circumstantial,  discriminated,  particular  body  of  phenomena.  It  sepa- 
rates itself  from  the  generalizations  of  both  science  and  philosophy  even 
when  it  selects  its  concrete  realities  with  a  view  to  making  them  typical. 

Again,  the  imagination  sees  life  in  large  organic  wholes,  is  dissatisfied 
with  unrelated  facts.  Masterpieces  of  art  make  their  deepest  impres- 
sion on  our  minds  as  such  living  wholes  wherein  some  organizing  ideas 
have  selected  and  co-ordinated  all  materials,  and  wherein  each  item  is 
given  a  peculiar  place  and  proportionate  value.  It  is  this  accustomed 
experience  of  seeing  Hfe  as  a  whole,  with  each  feature  placed  in  a  benevo- 
lent scheme,  which  satisfies  also  the  religious  instincts. 

Further,  the  imagination  vitally  fuses  thought  and  feeling  or  quickly 


THE  RELIGIOUS  VALUES  OF  LITERATURE  495 

surrounds  its  imagery  with  emotion.  In  literature  its  presentations 
would  be  lifeless  descriptions  were  it  not  for  this  emotional  nimbus 
accompanying  its  pictures.  This  habit  coming  from  literary  apprecia- 
tion is  of  value  to  the  religious  mind  which  in  the  very  act  of  sight 
should  attribute  some  universal  meaning  to  what  it  sees. 

No  demand  of  religious  teaching  is  more  constant  than  that  we 
should  judge  otherwise  than  by  our  senses,  and  accept  evidence  of  things 
not  seen.  The  literary  imagination  accustoms  the  mind  to  similar 
activities,  training  us  in  holding  in  consciousness  by  an  inner  sight  a 
world  of  beauty  and  goodness  beyond  our  ken.  Holding  the  image, 
we  hold  also  the  mood  which  is  of  value;  ease  in  doing  so,  which  is  the 
product  of  artistic  activity,  is  of  immediate  value  to  religious  experience. 

When  Coleridge  was  a  boy  of  eight,  his  father  on  a  starry  night 
explained  to  him  the  size  and  number  of  the  heavenly  bodies  with  their 
vast  movements.  He  looked  for  surprise  and  wonder  in  the  boy.  But 
the  poet  tells  us  that  he  felt  no  special  wonder,  because  his  mind  through 
long,  happy  days  of  reading  fairy-stories  had  grown  accustomed  to  feel- 
ings of  the  vast,  and  to  having  criteria  for  belief  other  than  those  of  his 
senses.  Literature  accustoms  the  mind  to  feelings  of  sublimity,  wonder, 
intricacy,  and  the  constant  working  of  higher  laws.  These  are  noble 
contributions  to  the  religious  consciousness. 

Literature  also  provides  a  rich,  interpreting,  apperceptive  basis  for 
experience  as  it  comes  to  the  mind.  This  may  be  seen  in  Wordsworth's 
story  of  how,  as  a  child  not  nine  years  old,  he  saw  the  body  of  a  drowned 
man  rise  bolt  upright,  with  ghastly  face,  in  Esthwaite  Lake.  Yet  it 
gave  him  no  soul-debasing  fear,  for  his  inner  eye  had  often  seen  such 
sights  among  the  shining  streams  of  fairy  land,  and  their  spirit  hallowed 
the  sad  spectacle  "with  decoration  of  ideal  grace."  In  spite  of  the 
danger  here  of  superstition,  this  imaginative  preinterpretation  given  by 
literature  strongly  reinforces  and  corrects  the  similar  working  of  reli- 
gious emotions. 

In  general,  the  active  functioning  of  the  imagination  makes  for  vivi- 
fication,  for  a  believing,  acquiescent  state  of  mind;  it  habituates  the 
consciousness  to  things  great  and  things  whole,  all  of  which  are  charac- 
teristic of  religious  thinking. 

2.  Another  impulse  of  the  art  of  letters  is  that  of  seeing  and  pre- 
senting all  things  with  the  personal  valuation  of  the  writer.  Even  the 
most  classic  and  universal  creations  manifest  this  law.  In  its  extreme 
and  uncritical  exhibitions  it  brings  literature  under  the  charge  of  not 
presenting  the  truth  as  all  may  see  it,  but  only  accidental,  personal, 
impermanent  views  of  truth.     But  it  would  not  have  the  interest  of  art 


496  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

if  its  imagery,  arrangements,  and  philosophy  were  not  surrounded  by 
feeUngs  of  disUke  or  pleasure  for  the  mind  that  made  them.  Of  course, 
the  higher  creations  of  art  always  claim  a  potential  universaUty  and  are 
typical  of  abiding  human  nature.  The  literary  reader,  then,  grows 
accustomed  to  this  twofold  fact  of  t)q)ical  aspects  of  human  life,  valued, 
colored,  emotionalized  by  some  notable  personaUty.  He  is  therefore 
in  sympathy  with  the  similar  movement  of  the  religious  feeling  to  which 
nothing  is  indifferent,  but  all  things  are  worthy  or  evil,  fulfilling  God's 
will  or  breaking  it. 

3.  Religion  and  literature  are  alike  dependent  upon  symbols  for 
their  expression,  enjoyment,  and  propagation.  The  facts,  fancies,  and 
ideas  of  the  artist  are  not  measurable  by  instruments  of  precision,  nor 
is  language  a  medium  of  communication  capable  of  mathematical 
exactness  or  uniformity.  The  artist's  creations  must  then  be  suggested, 
embodied  in  many  figures,  conveyed  by  hints  and  associations.  Hence 
his  dependence  upon  figures  and  allegory,  and  in  literature  the  mind 
grows  used  to  seeing  and  feeling  ideas  under  these  conditions — often 
unsatisfying  to  the  intelligence  and  logical  faculties,  but  impressive  to 
the  imagination   and  emotions. 

In  the  great  art  these  symbols  are  always  excellent  in  themselves 
without  reference  to  the  uses  they  will  serve  in  carrying  ideas.  They  best 
transmit  their  teachings  when,  in  front  of  the  face  of  the  lesson,  we  see 
only  some  fair  picture  of  physical  nature  or  of  distant  time  or  place,  and 
we  wake  at  the  end  of  the  delightful  presentation  to  realize  that  uncon- 
sciously by  its  means  an  image  of  some  noble  truth  has  fallen  upon 
our  hearts. 

In  this  matter  religious  writing  has  often  done  harm  to  itself.  Reli- 
gious teachers  are  most  often  inartistic,  yet  they  are  so  anxious  to  teach 
and  move  that  they  seize  upon  this  excellent  method  of  symbols  and 
spoil  it  by  poor  art  and  bungling  application.  On  this  account  allegory 
is  a  word  of  disfavor.  Great  literature,  then,  has  this  value  for  religion 
that  it  trains  in  the  use  of  symbols,  for  both  the  teacher  and  the  hearer, 
but  insists  that  the  symbol  itself  should  first  be  satisfactory  to  the  judg- 
ment and  taste  before  it  is  put  to  use — as  the  ship  must  be  seaworthy 
before  it  registers  for  the  service  of  merchants. 

But  not  only  use  of  the  large  symbols  of  physical  nature  and  society 
is  common  to  religion  and  Hterature ;  both  are  dependent  upon  the  formal 
symbols  of  language  for  self-expression  and  for  teaching  others.  Here 
is  a  host  of  floating,  evanescent,  spirit-like  symbols.  It  is  literature 
which  knows  all  their  flights  and  tempers,  dependent  upon  words  and 
phrases,  but  never  their  slave;  flying  upon  their  unstable  equilibrium 


THE  RELIGIOUS  VALUES  OF  LITERATURE  497 

securing,  as  Prospero  from  Ariel,  their  service,  if  not  their  settled  affec- 
tions. Literature  teaches  religious  writers  how  to  use  these  volatile  or 
dangerous  symbols,  never  attempting  absolutely  to  fix  them,  using  them 
today  to  set  them  free  tomorrow;  for  religious  teaching  also  needs  to 
know  the  fine  art  of  lightness  of  touch,  of  suggestion,  of  indirect  state- 
ment, of  beautiful  symbols  which  convey  without  comment  the  deepest 
truth  and  feeling. 

4.  The  full  stream  of  religious  feeling  and  interpretation  has  many 
.springs  and  sources.  One  of  the  largest  and  most  freshly  flowing  of 
these  is  physical  nature.  Whether  in  the  terror  and  awe  of  primitive 
man  endeavoring  to  explain  physical  phenomena  by  anthropomorphic 
fancies,  or  the  reverent  sense  of  strangeness  in  the  beauty  of  the  world 
to  the  modern  mind,  God  reveals  himself  most  visibly  to  the  young 
religious  consciousness  in  the  physical  universe. 

But  art  is  the  chief  human  instrument  for  the  loving  interpretation 
of  nature.  Long  before  the  mind  is  enthralled  by  the  "august  appeals" 
of  scientific  law,  it  has  been  made  glad  and  found  a  friend  in  the  loveli- 
ness of  the  world.  Hence  all  young  artists  in  letters  find  in  nature 
the  most  natural  food  for  the  feelings  of  wonder,  mystery,  sublimity, 
peace,  and  permanence.  If  not  stayed  by  precocious  skepticism,  they 
naturally  complete  the  circle  of  seeing  formal  beauty,  organizing  and 
controlling  law,  then  life  and  perhaps  consciousness,  and  so  health  and 
sympathy  for  men,  and  finally  a  distinct  expression  of  the  immanent 
Creator. 

Nature  is  also  to  the  sensitive,  artistic  soul  the  open  refuge  from 
social  disappointment  and  disharmony.  She  is  a  friend  to  all,  soothing, 
acquiescent,  never  rebuking.  Later  on  her  quietness  may  be  found 
to  be  indifference  and  her  communication  something  we  attribute,  not 
find.  But  communion  with  her  opens  the  large,  believing,  tender 
aspects  of  the  mind. 

Literature,  then,  reinforces  that  strong  impulse  which  the  rehgious 
mind  receives  from  physical  nature.  Not  in  early  states  of  society 
only,  but  in  the  most  modern,  there  is  a  presence  here  that  disturbs  with 
the  joy  of  elevated  thoughts, 

A  sense  sublime 
Of  something  far  more  deeply  interfused 
Whose  dwelling  is  the  light  of  setting  suns, 
And  the  round  ocean  and  the  living  air. 

The  mind  accustomed  to  such  poetic  interpretations  of  physical  nature 
will  find  many  of  them  direct  food  for  religious  needs,  and  none  of  them 
opposed  to  their  essential  character. 


498  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

5.  Religion  needs  from  all  sources  support  for  its  primary  feeling 
and  dogma  that  the  human  self  is  an  independent  spirit,  derived  not 
from  natural  sources,  but  from  a  universal  spirit.  Now  literature, 
even  when  most  realistic,  most  in  wonder  over  the  influence  upon  the 
soul  of  the  body  and  the  physical  world,  still  portrays  it  as  spiritual,  as 
self-initiating  and  essentially  free.  Literature  betrays  the  ancient  and 
general  expectation  of  it,  if  it  does  not  reflect  our  spiritual  "dependency 
divine."  Moreover,  the  greatest  books  have  exhibited  man  as  not 
finally  conditioned  by  the  earth  and  its  circumstances,  but  forever 
struggling  for  better  conditions,  unsubdued  even  by  fate,  living  in  the 
light  of  reasonable  endeavor,  and  of  "something  evermore  about  to  be." 
This  innate  idealism,  which  is  the  very  life-blood  of  letters,  makes  the 
soul  capable  of  winning  profitable  meaning  from  all  experience,  thus 
"sanctifying  both  pain  and  joy."  Great  art,  moreover,  would  be  para- 
lyzed if  deprived  of  the  belief  in  immortality.  It  does  not  dogmatize 
about  it,  does  not  portray  in  detail  any  future  state,  and  infrequently 
uses  it  as  a  motive  for  morality;  but  it  assumes  an  immortal  life  as  the 
end  and  meaning  of  endeavor  and  suffering — "a  presence  that  is  not 
to  be  put  by." 

This  constant  sense  in  literature  of  a  living  spirit  unexplained  and 
uncontrolled  by  the  forces  of  nature,  passing  in  hope  through  a  world 
of  educational  experiences  and  probations,  with  immortality  brooding 
over  it  like  the  day,  is  of  constant  value  to  the  religious  beliefs  and 
emotions. 

6.  Perhaps  the  love  of  literature  has  nothing  more  valuable  to  con- 
tribute to  religion  than  the  arousing  and  cultivating  of  the  emotions. 
Here  lies  an  entire  world  of  feelings  with  the  occasions  and  circumstances, 
and  our  minds  vicariously  reproduce  them.  To  excite  those  feelings  as 
vividly  as  possible,  to  remove  barriers  thereto  due  to  alien  circumstances 
of  time  and  place  or  critical  prejudice,  to  excite  sympathy  with  countless 
aspects  of  human  experience,  is  the  deepest  function  performed  by  litera- 
ture. 

This  has  its  dangerous  side — in  arousing  emotion  apart  from  actual, 
normal  occasions  and  without  any  legitimate  natural  outflow  in  acts. 
Human  life,  then,  may  cease  to  please  because  less  rich  in  details,  less 
highly  colored,  less  emotionally  intense,  than  the  stimulated  life  in 
books.  The  mind  may  become  cowardly  in  approaching  social  life, 
because  it  seems  to  get  so  much  more  experience  with  less  activity  by 
reading.  Thus  literature  often  proves  a  corrupter  of  sound  taste  and 
morals,  needing  to  be  constantly  supplemented  by  absorption  in  whole- 
some, normal,  social  life. 


THE  RELIGIOUS  VALUES  OF  LITERATURE  499 

Moreover,  such  stimulated,  enriched  emotional  life  is  not  directly 
religious.  On  the  contrary,  the  satisfaction  literature  gives  to  the  social, 
human  feehngs  often  works  directly  against  the  vaguer,  more  elevated, 
and  distant  emotions  of  our  religious  selves.  Literature  must  render 
interesting  the  life  that  now  is,  and  place  us  in  the  warm  centers  of  actual 
human  moods. 

But  it  does  make  for  fulness  and  flexibility  of  feeling,  and  its  normal 
tendency  is  to  refine  our  sense  of  legitimate  feeling,  as  to  both  occasion 
and  amount.  This  sensitiveness  to  other's  pains  and  joys,  this  depth 
and  flexibility  of  emotions,  as  it  were,  this  skill  of  feeling,  arising  from 
the  love  of  noble  literature,  has  an  immediate  value  in  strengthening  and 
subtilizing  the  religious  nature.  It  results  particularly  in  socializing  the 
individual  by  creating  wide  sympathies  through  vivid,  detailed  pictures 
of  suffering.  In  this  it  is  much  more  effective  than  science,  history,  or 
philosophy,  giving  us  in  one  presentation  particular  instances  with 
typical  meanings.  Such  quick  sympathy  more  immediately  than  all 
other  means  identifies  us  with  all  men  and  makes  tender  all  our  judg- 
ments as  rehgion  should  do. 

7.  The  art  of  literature  has  a  distinct  value  for  religious  teaching 
in  its  ability  to  describe  acts,  persons,  and  states  of  ideal  goodness  so  as 
to  make  them  attractive  and  imitable.  This  is  difficult  to  do,  owing  to 
the  fact  that  things  regular  and  normal,  that  keep  the  law  and  fulfil 
expectations,  tend  to  lose  interest  because  not  surprising  or  puzzling. 
It  is  easier  to  make  evil  interesting  and  even  fascinating,  especially  to 
untrained  attention.  Here  then  is  something  at  first  sight  new  or  dan- 
gerous or  difficult,  something  tending  to  make  excitement  and  struggle, 
arousing  an  active,  destructive,  or  indulgent  impulse.  The  association 
of  goodness  with  peace,  duty,  and  hard  work,  with  the  control  of  desire, 
with  dogmatic  teaching  and  the  limiting  of  personal  freedom,  all  has  a 
tendency  to  make  religious  statements  and  imagery  uninteresting, 
especially  to  the  young.  This  can  be  avoided  only  by  the  arts  of  expres- 
sion, wherein  the  first  law  is  that  of  securing  attention  and  making  dis- 
tinct impressions.  These  ways  of  success  include  the  delicate  methods 
of  description,  of  story-teUing,  of  suggestion  instead  of  direct  portrayal, 
of  figure  and  hence  of  wide  association,  and  of  ornamentation.  These 
devices  nullify  the  drift  of  the  ordinary  religious  teaching  toward  the 
general,  repetitious,  and  inactive. 

In  particular,  by  its  very  nature  Hterature  presents  us  detailed 
instances  of  persons  and  deeds,  concentrating  attention,  not  on  the 
general  qualities,  but  upon  the  concrete,  specific  features.  Again,  it 
practices  all  the  arts  of  indirect,  suggestive  portrayal,  leaving  the  general- 


500  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

izations  and  the  moral  lessons  to  be  drawn  by  the  reader  himself.  It 
gives,  not  analyses  of  heroism,  but  heroic  people  doing  heroic  things. 
Thus  great  hterature  always  furnishes  a  concrete  example  as  the  center 
about  which  feeling  gathers,  an  anchor  for  imagination  and  thought. 
The  Eternal  Goodness  manifests  Himself  also  in  concrete  example  of 
patriarch,  prophet,  priest,  and  Son  of  man.  The  presentation  of  these 
so  as  to  make  them  fair  and  lovable  is  greatly  helped  by  artistic  impulses 
and  devices. 

8.  Due  partly  to  its  necessities  of  ritual  in  worship  and  teaching, 
and  to  its  passion  for  uniform  and  orthodox  belief,  religious  expression 
easily  falls  into  the  disease  of  repeated  phrases  and  statements,  unvaried 
formulas.  While  this  is  profitable  for  intellectual  transfer  and  testing, 
it  is  deadening  to  religious  feeling.  The  theologian's  remark  concern- 
ing his  new  book,  that  he  thanked  God  that  there  wasn't  a  new  thing  in 
it,  may  have  been  praise  of  his  philosophy,  but  it  was  not  art  and  not 
religious  emotion. 

On  the  other  hand,  literary  art  has  an  equal  passion  for  variety,  for 
embodying  the  old  truth  in  new  phrases  and  figures  and  associations. 
It  loves  to  look  at  truth  from  new  angles,  however  slight,  and  to  secure 
new  activities  of  feeling  through  the  "  ever- widening  chambers  of  sur- 
prise." Words  and  figures  moving  for  one  age  are  not  so  for  another; 
even  the  same  mind  from  step  to  step  requires  new  statements  to  arouse 
its  emotions.  The  warm,  personal,  "feeding  pleasures"  of  religious 
feeling  are  augmented  by  bringing  into  religious  nomenclature  this  liter- 
ary passion  for  new,  changing,  flexible  phraseology. 

9.  One  of  the  priceless  values  of  literature  for  the  religious  mind  is 
that  of  taking  a  brief  theme  from  the  distinctly  religious  sources  and 
giving  it  a  rich,  sustained,  elaborate  setting  and  imagined  but  consistent 
expansion.  Notice  how  Browning's  "Saul"  so  elaborates  a  brief  pas- 
sage of  the  Bible  into  a  magnificent,  elaborate  whole,  which  keeps  the 
mind  dwelling  long  upon  the  theme.  The  Bible,  especially  the  New 
Testament,  is  often  dreary  as  reading  just  on  account  of  its  great 
brevity.  The  religious  mood  needs  one  idea  or  fact  or  situation  given 
an  extended  though  germane  treatment.  Or  the  germinal  idea  needs 
to  be  transferred  from  an  old  and  worn  setting  to  some  intricate,  modern 
world,  as  Francis  Thompson,  in  his  "Hound  of  Heaven,"  did  the  theme 
of  the  139th  Psalm.  This  reincarnation  of  old  ideas,  this  sustained  and 
elaborate  treatment  of  them,  secures  attention,  interest,  and  feeling, 
when  the  compact  parable  or  gnomic  sentence  would  not. 

Literature,  moreover,  brings  us  a  vast  moral  world,  showing  the 
working  of  moral  laws  toward  benevolent  ends.  In  Shakespeare, 
Browning,  Dante,  the  wages  of  sin  is  death  as  much  as  in  the  religious 


THE  RELIGIOUS  VALUES  OF  LITERATURE  501 

cosmogony  of  St.  Paul.  This  presentation  in  the  poets  and  dramatists 
is  not  for  all  men  directly  religious.  But  it  is  so  for  those  who  come  to 
their  religious  convictions  through  the  social  sense,  and  it  provides  sub- 
stantial answers  when  the  questioning  mind  wishes  to  know  if  religion 
is  profitable  for  the  life  that  now  is. 

10.  Wliile  literary  men  do  not  as  such  claim  special  power  in  solving 
the  problem  of  evil,  their  art  does,  at  its  highest,  inevitably  suggest  some 
other  attitude  besides  the  mere  description  and  exploitation  of  it  or  mere 
despair  in  its  presence. 

In  art  struggle  or  disharmony  cries  out  all  the  time  for  some  solution, 
some  peace  in  which  the  art  can  end.  The  discord  sets  the  artist  work- 
ing for  its  harmony — even  the  "silence  implying  sound."  Even  comedy, 
with  all  its  dislocations,  disharmonies,  and  satire  upon  folly  and  vice, 
its  laugh  at  hypocrisy  and  its  smile  at  good-natured  weakness — even 
comedy  is  possible  only  because  an  ideal  world  is  posited  by  the  imagina- 
tion just  above  the  real  world — its  standard,  and  that  toward  which  all 
rational  consciousness  tends  to  grow.  Literature  helps  religion  by 
this  feeling  that  somehow,  somewhere,  the  ever-idealizing  mind  shall 
increasingly  find  satisfaction  in  a  world  that  grows  into  harmony  with 
itself. 

When  distinctly  religious  things  are  treated  in  a  sound  artistic  man- 
ner— there  are  many  that  may  be  so  handled,  though  they  are  few  in 
comparison  with  the  total  subject-matter  of  art — or  when  religious  feel- 
ings come  naturally  into  the  pictures  of  human  life,  made  by  art,  or 
when  the  artist  is  religious  and  all  life  has  to  him  a  religious  meaning, 
then  the  service  of  literature  to  religion  is  direct  and  strong.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  however  precious  this  is,  it  is  relatively  small  in  amount 
compared  with  the  totality  of  literary  effect. 

The  indirect  effect  of  literary  appreciation,  when  not  associated  with 
a  skeptical  philosophy,  using  literature  as  a  medium  of  expression,  is 
equally  precious  and  larger  in  amount.  This,  as  we  have  seen,  works 
through  the  agency  of  enabling  the  mind  early  to  lay  hold  upon  truth 
not  given  through  the  senses;  of  expressing  religious  truth  and  feeling 
in  personal,  flexible,  picturesque,  charming  figure  and  statement;  of 
freeing  and  enlarging  human  sympathy;  and  of  accustoming  the  mind 
to  the  methods  of  conveying  truth  through  symbol.  Above  all  and 
through  all  the  world  of  evil  inviting  or  demanding  portrayal  in  art, 
the  common  practice  and  law  of  art  in  seeing  solutions,  exhibiting  the 
workings  of  ideals,  seeing  "the  soul  of  goodness  in  things  evil, "  demand- 
ing a  rational  and  ever  a  more  beautiful  world  to  live  in,  coincides  with, 
reinforces,  or  channels  the  deepest  of  religious  feelings — that  all  things 
work  together  for  good  to  them  that  love  God, 


THE  SERVICE  TO  RELIGIOUS  FEELING  OF  THE  MUSIC 
OF  THE  CHURCH 

PROFESSOR  GEORGE  C.  GOW,  Mus.D., 

VASSAR  COLLEGE,   POUGHKEEPSIE,   NEW   YORK 

The  judgment  of  mankind,  manifested  everywhere  and  from  the 
earliest  times,  in  bringing  music  to  the  aid  of  religious  ceremony,  is  a 
correct  one.  The  value  of  music  depends  upon  its  relation  to  feeling; 
if  it  were  unable  to  express  or  to  stimulate  religious  feeling,  it  would 
cease  to  serve  the  church.  This  is  the  more  demonstrable  when  we 
recognize  that  the  whole  function  of  the  religious  service  is  either  to 
afford  an  outlet  to  religious  emotion  or  to  foster  a  quickening  thereof. 
Even  in  those  sacred  assemblies  where  the  purely  didactic  side  is  thrust 
to  the  fore,  it  is  understood  that  the  setting  forth  of  holy  truths  has  its 
end  in  arousing  religious  feeling,  and  that  the  gathering  together  is  itself 
a  distinct  aid  to  impressibility.  Aside,  then,  from  divergence  in  the 
character  of  the  truth  emphasized,  and  aside  from  the  influences  of  age 
and  country,  the  main  differences  in  the  types  of  religious  service  would 
seem  to  arise  from  variance  in  susceptibility  to  art  impressions.  Granted 
that  the  thoughts  to  be  expressed — of  adoration,  penitence,  aspiration, 
or  belief — furnish  in  themselves  the  end  and  aim  of  the  worship,  media 
of  expression  must  be  chosen  that  are  suitable  and  adequate.  Whatever 
is  recognized  as  directly  assisting  one  to  feelings  of  adoration,  etc.,  will 
be  welcomed  in  the  service,  and,  whatever  directly  or  indirectly  hinders 
these  feelings  will  be  objected  to.  Social  worship  lays  tribute  upon  all 
the  fine  arts.  First  after  the  art  of  speech  has  always  come  that  sister- 
art  of  beautiful  tones,  music;  and  following  these  at  varying  removes  the 
arts  that  address  and  educate  the  eye,  in  ceremonial,  in  temple,  in  image, 
and  in  painting.  The  use  of  these  waited  only  upon  the  development 
of  the  arts  themselves  and  upon  their  appreciation  by  the  body  of  wor- 
shipers. We  know,  to  be  sure,  that  one  person  may  be  profoundly 
moved  by  the  vast  spaces  of  the  cathedral,  the  "dim  religious  lights," 
the  incense  and  the  mysterious  voice  of  the  celebrant;  while  another 
responds  equally  to  the  simple,  barren  room  of  unlovely  shape  and  color, 
sacred  solely  by  the  power  of  holy  associations.  And  yet  we  must  con- 
dition the  right  of  existence  of  either  temple  or  ceremony  upon  the 
possibility  and  extent  of  the  personal  response.  If  it  can  be  shown  that 
a  given  art  form  is  permanent,  sure  through  the  ages  to  make  the  same 

S02 


THE  RELIGIOUS  VALUE  OF  CHURCH  MUSIC  503 

appeal  and  with  equal  force,  we  must  then  admit  its  abiding  value, 
provided  we  desire  its  appeal.  If  it  can  be  shown  that  a  given  art 
form  is  of  necessity  temporary,  the  expression  of  a  limited  capacity  and 
a  changing  ideal,  we  must  then  yield  to  its  ephemeral  character  and 
stand  ready  to  substitute  the  better  art  form  which  takes  its  place. 
Illustrations  of  this  are  not  wanting  in  the  realms  of  architecture,  sculp- 
ture, and  painting. 

The  question  in  music,  then,  as  to  the  right  to  declare  any  given  type 
sacred  and  authoritative  as  a  model  for  all  time,  forces  us  back  to  a  con- 
sideration of  the  elements  of  permanence  in  music  itself,  and  the  nature 
of  its  connection  with  things  sacred.  The  answers  to  these  questions 
involve  a  review,  however  hasty,  of  the  nature  of  music  itself. 

It  is,  first  of  all,  an  art  that  addresses  the  ear.  Its  comparisons  are 
made  in  time,  and  demand  the  assistance  of  memory.  Its  material, 
however,  is  in  itself  sensuous,  exciting.  This  material — i.  e.,  the  char- 
acteristically musical  in  tone — has  been  gathered  as  the  result  of  infinite 
experiment  through  the  ages,  and  is  by  no  means  a  mere  accumulation, 
but  rather  is  a  survival  of  the  fittest  in  a  relentless  sorting  and  sifting 
process.  In  the  course  of  this  process  the  powers  of  observation  have 
been  developed  enormously,  so  that  the  system  of  musical  symbols  has 
grown  vastly  complicated,  becoming,  in  fact,  a  complete  art  language 
with  its  syntax  and  its  rhetoric,  its  every-day  speech,  and  its  noble  and 
distinctive  literature  of  art  works.  There  is  fair  reason  to  doubt  whether 
the  sensuous  effect  of  the  fully  developed  language  of  music  today  is  any 
greater  upon  those  who  understand  it  than  the  sensuous  effect  of  primi- 
tive music  upon  the  primitive  man;  just  as  there  is  reason  to  believe 
that  the  early  bards  stirred  their  hearers  quite  as  much  as  the  modern 
poets  and  novelists  do  us.  It  is,  however,  a  well-recognized  characteris- 
tic of  the  growth  of  language  that  vrords  and  figures  of  speech  wear  out, 
idioms  change,  the  terms  of  expression  that  were  forceful  become  less 
and  less  so,  and  are  abandoned  under  the  necessity  of  retaining  the 
original  incisiveness  of  speech;  yet  during  this  long  process  not  only  does 
the  language  as  a  whole  become  enriched  and  enlarged  in  its  power  of 
expression ,  but  the  laws  of  literary  effectiveness  become  in  a  considerable 
degree  established,  and  the  elements  of  permanence  both  in  form  and 
in  matter  reveal  themselves.  When  we  read  early  literature,  it  is  pos- 
sible often  both  to  see  what  there  is  in  it  that  is  abiding  and  to  see  what 
in  its  own  time  was  vital  and  compelling,  but  has  ceased  so  to  be.  With 
music  the  case  is  identical.  That  which  is  novel  and  stimulating  in  its 
day  becomes  the  commonplace  of  a  later  generation,  and  by  the  still 
more  remote  age  is  reckoned  either  crude  and  worthless;  or,  if  it  have 


504  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

some  vitality,  as  quaint  and  interesting;  or,  finally,  because  of  its  uni- 
versality, as  inevitable  and  perfect.  The  student  of  music  history  can 
supply  the  numberless  illustrations  of  this.  It  is  to  be  noted  that, 
besides  the  usual  law  of  diminishing  returns  in  the  effectiveness  of  much 
worked  language,  there  is  the  other  law  of  association  by  which  habit  in 
the  use  of  that  which  is  good  develops  appreciation  thereof.  So,  to  offer 
something  else  equally  universal  and  fit  might  not  be  adequate  reason 
for  displacing  the  old. 

We  are  thus  led  to  seek  for  the  mission  of  music.  What  service  to 
religious  feeling  can  it  render? 

It  must  be  evident  that  music  in  itself  is  neither  secular  nor  sacred. 
As  much  damage  to  clear  thinking  comes  from  claiming  too  much  as  from 
claiming  too  little  for  the  art.  Mr.  J.  Donovan,  in  his  discussion  of  the 
theory  of  music  {From  Lyre  to  Muse),  very  acutely  remarks  that  the 
use  of  musical  tones  in  a  rhythmic  and  melodic  pattern  has  its  elementary 
fascination  for  us  in  that  it  divests  our  minds  of  defmite  thought  and 
holds  the  attention  while  separating  it  from  the  realm  of  self-interest. 
We  must  add  to  this,  that  the  sensuous  character  of  its  material  permits 
a  physical  stimulus  of  varying  degree  that  can  be  shaded  in  subtle  ways 
to  approach  the  nature  and  extent  of  stimulus  corresponding  to  that 
aroused  by  the  individual  emotions  of  human  life.  In  other  words, 
what  Hanslick  calls  the  "musical  arabesque"  entrances  us  not  alone  by 
its  intricacy  of  pattern,  but  yet  more  by  its  power  to  adapt  itself  to  a  wide 
variety  of  emotional  states.  And  just  as  poets  have  made  skilful  use  of 
the  suggestiveness  of  word-color  ehher  to  describe  or  to  induce  an 
emotion,  so  have  the  musicians  chosen  their  melodies,  their  rhythms, 
and  their  harmonies  to  vivify  the  particular  mood  desired.  This  is 
most  indisputably  the  case  in  the  union  of  words  and  music.  From 
the  Gregorian  "Alleluias,"  the  "Kyries"  of  Josquin  des  Pres,  the  "Mad- 
rigals" as  well  as  the  "Lamentations"  of  Orlando  di  Lassus,  to  the  songs 
of  Schubert  and  Brahms,  and  the  heroics  of  the  Wagnerian  drama,  it 
has  always  been  characteristic  of  the  composers  of  greatest  genius  to 
seize  infalUbly  upon  that  combination  of  musical  tones  which  would  fit 
to  the  mood  desired,  both  expressing  and  intensifying  it.  This  marvel- 
ous instinct  in  the  choice  of  the  inevitable  tones,  even  more  mysterious 
than  the  poet's  facile  play  with  illuminating  words,  caused  Browning 
to  make  his  Abt  Vogler  exclaim  :  "The  rest  may  reason  and  welcome:  'tis 
we  musicians  know." 

So  subtle  and  far-reaching  is  the  influence  of  tonal  structures  upon 
those  who  are  sensitive  to  them  that  this  impress  of  mood  is  felt  in  all  music, 
whether  wedded  to  words  or  not,  and  it  has  become  a  commonplace  to 


THE  RELIGIOUS  VALUE  OF  CHURCH  MUSIC  505 

call  music  "  the  language  of  the  emotions."  This  phrase  is  on  many 
accounts  misleading,  for,  as  is  suggested  above,  one  might  quite  as  well 
call  poetry  the  language  of  the  emotions.  One  very  significant  distinc- 
tion between  music  and  poetry,  however,  gives  a  valuable  clue  to  both 
the  place  and  the  power  of  music.  It  is  that,  in  general,  the  art  of  music 
can  both  call  up  more  readily  and  sustain  more  vividly  and  at  length  a 
given  emotion  than  can  poetry.  The  delight  in  tones  and  in  tonal  pat- 
terns is  a  powerful  aid  in  diverting  the  mind  from  emotional  strain,  and 
so  in  delaying  the  reaction  from  it.  Herein  lies  its  value  as  an  aid  in 
emotional  tasks.  Herein,  therefore,  lies  its  value  to  religious  feehng. 
By  its  assistance  this  feeling  can  be  both  prolonged  and  intensified  with- 
out excessive  mental  fatigue.  Under  its  exhilaration  joy  becomes  more 
transcendent,  grief  and  penitence  more  poignant,  consolation  more  com- 
pelling, and  awe  more  impressive.,  It  furnishes,  as  it  were,  a  gorgeous 
and  convincing  background  to  feeling. 

As,  therefore,  there  is  no  music  sacred  in  itself,  the  creation  of  so-called 
sacred  music  is  a  matter  of  artistic  insight  on  the  part  of  the  composer. 
The  decision  as  to  what  is  sacred  and  what  not  is  a  matter  of  critical 
judgment.  In  reading  the  Pope's  recent  letter  introducing  sweeping 
reforms  in  the  musical  services  of  the  Roman  church  one  can  readily  feel 
the  force  of  his  commendation  of  the  grave,  dignified,  and  sweet  Greg- 
orian chant,  of  the  spiritually  uplifting  strains  of  Palestrina,  and  his 
condemnation  of  the  flippant,  noisy,  and  florid  composition  in  the  the- 
atrical style  of  the  nineteenth  century;  but  the  query  arises  whether  it  is 
not  a  mistake  for  him  to  insist  that  composers  revert  to  the  models  of  a 
bygone  day,  however  wonderful  they  may  be.  When  we  examine  the 
"ancient  traditional  Gregorian  chant"  we  see  first  of  all  that  it  is  at  its 
best  a  highly  flexible  musical  declamation.  It  differs  from  the  later 
product  of  the  drama,  "recitativo  secco,"  in  that  it  is  independent  of 
instrumental  support  (although  modern  habit  has  given  to  much  of  it 
a  harmonization  that  belongs  mainly  to  the  vocal  polyphonic  period, 
from  six  hundred  to  a  thousand  years  younger  than  the  original  melody), 
that  it  conforms  to  regular  rules  of  inflection  based  upon  the  nature  of 
speech,  in  sentence  making,  and  that  it  allows  in  the  moments  of  exalta- 
tion a  free  play  of  melodic  outline,  admirably  calculated  to  give  vent 
to  intensity  of  religious  feehng.  It,  however,  dates  from  the  formative 
period  of  the  language  of  music,  and  fails  therefore  to  utilize  certain 
important  possibilities  in  the  construction  of  melody  which  came  later 
to  be  regarded  as  valuable,  namely,  that  regularity  of  recurrent  accent 
and  fixed  patterning  of  tone-lengths  which  we  call  rhythm,  and  that 
balancing  of  phrase  with  phrase,  by  likeness  and  contrasts  of  melody, 


5o6  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

which  we  call  form.  One  need  only  ask  whether  music  which  thus 
ignores  important  factors  of  musical  construction  is  adequate  to  that 
expression  of  spiritual  emotion  which  fulfils  all  the  demands  of  a  reli- 
gious service.  A  corresponding  examination  of  the  vocal  polyphonic  of 
Palestrina's  time  and  style  would  raise  a  similar  question.  This  music 
represents  the  first  great  art  climax  after  the  actual  materials  of  the  living 
tongue  had  been  developed.  The  factors  of  musical  tone,  pitch, 
length,  volume,  and  quality  had  been  worked  over  into  the  terms  of 
melody,  rhythm,  harmony,  and  color.  But  the  art  of  developing  inten- 
sities in  the  utterance  of  each  of  these  things  by  principles  of  construc- 
tion was  yet  in  its  infancy.  The  beautiful  music  of  the  vocal  polyphonic 
was  often  a  mere  rope  of  melodic  strands,  in  which  the  charm  of  the 
individual  thread  was  but  dimly  felt,  a  communism  of  melodic  entities, 
without  the  force  of  any  commanding  personality.  Can  music  of 
this  type  say  all  that  ought  to  be  said  to  the  reverent  soul  ?  More  espe- 
cially ,  shall  its  method  of  construction  be  the  model  for  all  time  ?  The 
heritage  of  the  psalms  is  priceless;  but  to  ask  modern  poets  to  add  to 
them  would  be  both  ill-judged  and  futile.  Music  is  a  living  language, 
subject  necessarily  to  changing  idiom.  And  just  as  the  composers 
of  the  past  who  were  most  profoundly  moved  by  reHgious  motives 
have  given  us  deeply  spiritual  music  in  the  phraseology  of  their  own 
period,  may  we  not  expect  composers  of  our  time  yet  more  fitly  to 
voice  the  needs  and  aspirations  of  the  present  by  using  the  fulness  of 
the  musical  resources  of  today  ?  There  has  been  an  enormous  amount 
of  dull  and  monotonous  Gregorian  music,  of  prolix  and  pointless  poly- 
phonic, of  empty  and  uninteresting  church  compositions  from  every 
age;  and  the  publishers  continually  add  to  the  mass.  But  there  has 
always  been  wheat  in  the  chaff,  and  today  there  is  perhaps  as  much  as 
ever. 

From  the  standpoint  of  the  composer,  too,  a  word  may  not  be  amiss 
to  the  church.  All  great  art  is  the  product  of  sincerity  and  earnestness. 
If  the  church  would  have  her  composers  write  thrillingly,  she  must  stir 
them  with  holy  thoughts,  imbue  them  with  divine  zeal  for  expression,  and 
encourage  them  to  bring  the  utmost  of  their  creative  power  to  bear  upon 
their  work  for  her  glory.  Seasons  of  deep  spiritual  quickening  have 
instant  effect  upon  such  souls,  and  the  results  descend  to  the  ages.  The 
church  composer  makes  this  plea  with  special  right,  since  he  is  peculiarly 
subject  to  the  subtle  temptation  of  all  artists  to  become  absorbed  in  the 
manner  rather  than  the  matter;  for  his  whole  art,  as  a  factor  in  reHgious 
ceremonial,  is  but  the  manner,  must  be  regarded  simply  as  a  means,  and 
must  be  held  unswervingly  to  its  high  purpose.     When  released  from 


THE  RELIGIOUS  VALUE  OF  CHURCH  MUSIC  507 

the  guidance  of  words  he  constructs  his  music  so  as  to  give  free  vent  to 
his  delight  in  tone  in  accordance  with  laws  of  effectiveness  that  have 
gradually  been  evolved  and  are  approved  by  him.  These  laws  almost 
invariably  tend  to  prolong  any  given  mood,  seeking  a  new  one  only  when 
flagging  interest  suggests  the  need  of  contrast.  When,  however,  the 
progress  of  a  liturgy  is  to  be  glorified  by  its  musical  setting,  and  holy 
words  are  to  be  illuminated  by  heart-searching  tones,  the  purely  musical 
must  give  way  to  the  expressive,  and  the  natural  desire  of  the  artistic 
mind  to  elaborate  a  mood  must  often  be  repressed.  The  Pope  is  right 
in  regarding  music  as  "a  complementary  part  of  the  solemn  liturgy," 
just  as  Wagner  insists  that  music  is  but  one  of  three  factors  in  dramatic 
art.  It  is,  accordingly,  of  utmost  importance  to  the  musician  not  only 
that  his  spiritual  insight  be  quickened  so  that  he  will  infallibly  choose 
the  fitting  music  for  the  sacred  message,  but  that  his  desire  to  give  to  the 
message  wings  will  be  so  overpowering  that  no  musical  allurement  can 
hinder  him  on  the  way.  There  is  no  incentive  to  self-criticism  like  the 
domination  of  an  inspiring  purpose.  Make  the  musician  profoundly 
religious  and  his  art  will  speak  to  the  soul,  whether  through  the  language 
of  the  eighth,  or  the  sixteenth,  or  the  twentieth  century. 

When  we  recognize,  then,  that  music  is  a  hving  tongue  subject  to  the 
laws  of  change  in  all  language,  we  also  see  that  the  line  of  effectiveness 
is  forward  and  not  backward,  that  the  composer  must  enlarge,  not  con- 
tract, his  field  of  vision.  Though  the  yearning  toward  things  eternal 
is  itself  abiding,  though  praise  and  prayer  pass  not  forever,  the  formulas 
in  which  man  will  utter  his  inmost  nature  unfold  themselves  gradually 
and  incessantly.  It  would  be  difficult  to  cite  music  more  deeply  spiritual, 
or  more  modern,  than  Edward  Elgar's  "Dream  of  Gerontius"  or  his 
"Apostles,"  and  the  Pope  has  well  said  that  there  is  much  modern  music 
"in  no  way  unworthy  of  the  liturgical  functions."  We  may  equally 
.  surely  expect  the  future  to  contribute  from  its  stores  wonders  of  the  tonal 
art  as  yet  undreamt.  Does  this  fact  involve  the  giving  up  of  the  treasures 
of  the  past  ?  When  Homer,  Dante,  and  Shakespeare  grow  old,  we  may 
wish  to  forget  Palestrina,  Handel,  and  Bach. 


THE   FIELD   OF   ARTISTIC   INFLUENCES   IN   RELIGIOUS 

EDUCATION 

PROFESSOR  WALDO  S.  PRATT,  Mus.D., 

HARTFORD   THEOLOGICAL   SEMINARY,   HARTFORD,   CONNECTICUT 

It  has  been  thought  somewhat  imperative  that  at  this  initial  meeting 
of  the  Department  of  ReHgious  Art  and  Music  there  should  be  some 
attempt  to  outline  the  general  field  of  investigation  and  effort  which 
this  Department  of  the  ReHgious  Education  Association  may  be  supposed 
to  cultivate  as  its  pecuhar  province.  Seeking,  perhaps,  to  achieve  the 
impossible,  this  humble  study  of  the  subject  is  respectfully  submitted 
and  thrown  into  the  arena  of  discussion.  In  itself  it  is  surely  very 
inadequate;  but  it  may  serve  to  draw  forth  opinions  and  ideas  that  will 
have  a  decided  value  for  our  mutual  work. 

One  of  our  number  has  shrewdly  suggested  that  the  first  step  toward 
defining  our  special  field  should  be  to  define  the  terms  of  the  general 
titles  under  which  we  are  working.  What  is  art,  and  what  religious  art  ? 
What  is  education,  and  what  religious  education  ?  Without  essaying 
to  accept  this  challenge  in  full,  we  may  say  at  once  that  "religious"  indi- 
cates the  end  or  result  toward  which  this  Association  in  all  its  depart- 
ments is  pointed;  that  "education"  emphasizes  the  special  aspect  or 
process  of  religious  activity  under  consideration;  and  that  "art"  desig- 
nates the  implement  or  means  or  sphere  wherewith  or  wherein  the  work 
is  done  that  we  as  a  Department  are  to  study.  This  is  very  rough  and 
general,  however,  and  further  definitions  are  evidently  in  order. 

Religious  education  is  clearly  a  process  that  addresses  itself  to  the 
whole  nature  of  men,  aiming  to  give  them  information  about  questions 
of  belief  and  character  on  the  one  side,  and  about  religious  objects, 
institutions,  and  social  development  on  the  other;  to  arouse  appropriate 
and  healthy  sentiments  regarding  all  these  subjects,  especially  sentiments 
Hke  enthusiasm,  aspiration,  reverence,  and  devotion ;  and  through  infor- 
mation and  incitation  to  provoke  to  high  thinking,  noble  feeling,  right 
choices,  and  useful  habits  in  all  the  relations  in  which  religion  may  mani- 
fest itself.  The  persons  to  be  thus  educated  are  primarily  the  young, 
but  not  exclusively.  In  our  Department  especially  the  needs  and 
aptitudes  of  adults  must  constantly  be  borne  in  mind,  both  because 
artistic  susceptibihty  and  readiness  are  not  usually  conspicuous  in 
youthful  stages  of  development,  and  because  the  process  of  popular 

508 


ARTISTIC  INFLUENCES  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION     509 

education  in  our  field  demands  the  many-sided  co-operation  of  both  old 
and  young. 

It  is  quite  clear,  furthermore,  that  the  forms  of  art  that  sooner  or  later 
ought  to  be  taken  into  our  consideration  are  extremely  manifold — not 
only  pictorial  art  and  music  (as  our  present  departmental  title  suggests), 
but  architecture,  poetry,  eloquence,  and  the  drama — practically  every 
one  of  the  fine  arts  that  has  attained  to  independent  and  organized 
existence.  And  not  simply  such  organized  arts  as  wholes,  but  all  those 
rather  undefined  artistic  aspects  of  action,  expression,  and  institutions 
that  appeal  strongly  to  taste  and  take  effect  upon  artistic  impulses  and 
powers  so  as  ultimately  to  influence  the  religious  nature.  It  is  probable 
that  as  we  push  our  thought  into  details  it  will  seem  as  if  our  field  is 
literally  boundless,  since  all  life  has  its  essentially  artistic  aspects. 

Our  study,  however,  will  be  naturally  guided  at  the  outset  by  the 
fact  that  in  religious  institutions  certain  specific  arts  or  artistic  ways  of 
working  have  been  generally  recognized.  The  historic  church  has  been 
the  chief  patron  of  almost  all  of  the  greater  fine  arts,  powerfully  foster- 
ing their  development  into  independence,  and  receiving  from  all  of  them 
most  valuable  reactive  influences.  So  close  is  this  relation  that  the  church 
is  often  called  the  parent  of  several  of  the  arts  now  most  distinguished, 
even  though  its  children,  as  notably  in  the  case  of  the  drama,  have  often 
strayed  far  away  from  their  early  home  and  have  even  been  repudiated 
there.  This  striking  employment  of  specific  fine  arts  by  the  church 
has  had  two  main  reasons,  namely,  that  these  arts  are  susceptible  of 
being  adopted  and  incorporated  into  church  usage  just  as  are  many 
other  factors  in  general  social  life;  and  that  these  arts  are  thought  to 
have  special  utilities  for  distinctively  religious  and  ecclesiastical  pur- 
poses. The  more  general  of  these  two  reasons  we  may  here  lay  one  side, 
but  the  more  definitely  utilitarian  reason  requires  some  further  analysis. 

It  is  often  helpful  to  divide  the  ecclesiastical  uses  of  the  fine  arts  into 
those  of  expression  and  of  impression,  though  these  can  never  be  really 
torn  apart.  Thus,  for  example,  in  the  rise  of  Gothic  architecture  the 
accent  fell  on  its  capacity  to  express  or  embody  the  civic  or  the  personal 
devotion  to  God  of  a  great  transitional  period;  while  in  subsequent  ages 
the  products  of  this  mediaeval  zeal  have  been  cherished  mainly  for  their 
power  of  impression  as  monuments  and  as  settings  for  liturgical  action. 
Thus  music,  poetry,  and  literary  art  in  general  for  centuries  have  been 
extensively  woven  into  the  fabric  of  the  great  historic  liturgies  (or  plans 
of  public  worship)  because  they  were  seen  to  be  unrivaled  media  for 
religious  expression,  both  personal  and  congregational,  while  at  the  same 
time  majestically  impressive  in  actual  application.     On  the  other  hand, 


510  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

painting  and  sculpture,  eloquence  and  the  drama,  were  in  the  first  place 
elaborately  cultivated  by  the  church  because  of  their  evident  impressive 
power  in  teaching,  admonishing,  and  uplifting  the  popular  mind,  though 
they  were  also  for  certain  minds  distinctly  expressive  media  as  well. 
These  two  faces  of  the  religious  use  of  artistic  modes  of  action  must 
always  shade  insensibly  into  each  other,  since  that  which  vivid  and 
intense  expression  produces  is  strongly  impressive  as  a  concrete  object 
of  contemplation,  and  since  highly  artistic  impression  is  never  success- 
ful unless  genuinely  expressive  on  the  producer's  part  and  unless  capable 
of  being  sympathetically  adopted  by  the  percipient  as  a  symbol  of  his 
own  feeHng. 

All  this  emphasizes  a  well-known  principle.  Religious  art  differs 
from  what  may  be  called  art  per  se  in  that  it  has  a  definite  purpose  or  end 
beyond  itself.  Thus  church  music  is  notoriously  liable  to  abuse  unless 
its  practical  intention  or  application  is  obvious.  Thus  sermonic  elo- 
quence that  is  simply  self-centered  is  usually  sterile  and  even  obnoxious. 
Thus  certain  schools  of  painting,  even  when  treating  nominally  religious 
subjects,  seem  not  to  be  religious  at  all.  While  it  is  easy  to  see  that  in 
every  art  there  are  types  that  are  strongly  religious  and  others  that  are, 
to  say  the  least,  non-religious,  it  is  not  easy  to  draw  a  hard  and  fast  line 
between  the  two,  and  the  arguments  used  about  them  are  apt  not  to  be 
equally  cogent  or  even  intelligible  to  all  critics.  There  is  a  large  area 
of  unsettled  debate  in  this  neighborhood  into  which  perhaps  our  dis- 
cussions ought  sometime  to  enter.  For  myself,  I  think  that  while  his- 
torically there  has  often  been  an  undeniable  chasm  between  religious  art 
and  secular  art,  it  is  not  clear  that  this  chasm  results  from  anything  but 
accidents  of  usage  or  of  popular  opinion.  My  own  sense  of  the  scope 
of  the  fine  arts  leads  toward  the  sweeping  assertion  that  under  suitable 
conditions  practically  all  artistic  products  that  ought  to  exist  at  all  may 
be  drafted  into  religious  service  in  some  way.  In  the  present  state  of 
things,  however,  this  can  hardly  be  taken  as  a  practical  working  prin- 
ciple, unless  something  fairly  sweeping  and  thorough  can  be  done  in  the 
way  of  education  regarding  the  significance  and  potency  of  fine  art. 

Reference  to  this  general  truth,  that  religious  art  should  properly  be 
approached  with  the  clear  understanding  that  it  is  not  art  for  art's  sake, 
but  art  for  religion's  sake,  recalls  us  to  the  need  of  fixing  our  attention  to  a 
large  extent  upon  specific  applications  of  art  rather  than  upon  general 
aesthetic  problems.     Accordingly,  let  us  turn  abruptly  to  these. 

The  special  circumstances  in  which  most  of  us  find  ourselves  as 
workers  in  American  Protestantism  decidedly  circumscribe  the  field  in 
these  specific  directions  into  which  it  is  wise  for  us  at  present  to  enter. 


ARTISTIC  INFLUENCES  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION     511 

Within  our  natural  field  the  following  specialties  are  evidently  waiting 
for  our  discussion: 

1.  Church  Building,  viewed  not  in  its  mechanical  or  sumptuary 
aspects,  but  as  a  form  for  embodying  religious  sentiment  and  a  method 
of  molding  religious  sentiment. 

2.  Church  Music,  not  as  a  technical  branch  of  composition  or  per- 
formance, but  as  an  outlet  for  devotion,  and  as  a  constraining  and  uplift- 
ing influence  upon  both  the  devout  and  the  undevout. 

3.  Hymnody,  regarded  as  a  special  branch  of  poetic  literature  into 
which  has  been  poured  an  infinite  wealth  of  religious  fervor  and  ecstasy, 
and  which  is  a  familiar  and  most  notable  channel  for  both  expression 
and  impression  in  religious  services  of  every  degree. 

4.  The  whole  literary  side  of  Public  Worship — call  it  Liturgies,  if 
you  will— in  which  through  spoken  prose  the  popular  religious  spirit 
embodies  itself,  and  from  which  in  turn  it  receives  often  its  most  decided 
flavor  and  color. 

5.  The  use  of  all  kinds  of  artistic  objects,  like-  pictures,  models, 
poems,  etc.,  in  catechetical  instruction  or  in  the  surroundings  in  which 
such  instruction  is  carried  on. 

6.  The  use  of  artistic  products  that  are  not  directly  associated  with 
religion,  regarded  as  embodiments  of  the  human  spirit  that  have  mani- 
fold religious  and  moral  suggestions  and  impUcations — like  general 
literature,  including  novels,  poetry,  etc.;  or  hke  the  drama,  including 
the  theater  and  the  opera ;  or  hke  picture  galleries,  art  museums,  concert 
series,  etc. 

7.  The  use  of  historic  studies  in  the  various  fine  arts  as  a  practical 
introduction  to  artists,  works,  styles,  and  tendencies  that  can  never  be 
adequately  represented  in  collections,  exhibits,  or  reproductions,  but 
which  may  yet  be  made  to  yield  definite  and  powerful  results  in  the  lines 
of  information,  sympathy,  and  critical  interpretation. 

In  approaching  any  of  these,  I  take  it  that  our  questions  as  a  Depart- 
ment in  this  Association  should  turn  in  two  somewhat  distinct  directions. 
We  shall  be  forced  in  each  case  to  spend  time  in  considering  what  are 
the  ideals  of  use.  But  we  must  also  not  stop  until  we  have  tried  to  out- 
line practical  methods  whereby  these  ideals  may  be  realized  in  given 
conditions.  My  own  conviction  is  that  in  all  our  work  we  shall  do 
well  to  avoid  being  too  much  governed  by  juvenile  conditions  and  juve- 
nile requirements.  The  reason  for  this  is  that  in  this  whole  realm  of  fine 
art  as  a  branch  of  social  life  and  as  a  factor  in  social  progress  there  are 
too  many  unsettled  questions  of  principle,  procedure,  and  criticism.  In 
this  realm  we  cannot  assume  that  there  exists  a  well-defined  standard 


512  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

of  theory  and  praxis  to  which  we  are  simply  to  make  the  rising  genera- 
tion conform.  We  are  confronted  by  a  singularly  chaotic  state  of  opin- 
ion and  a  disheartening  variety  of  practices.  Religious  education  in 
the  use  of  fine  art  must  find  its  way  through  these  bewilderments  by 
keeping  its  eye  fixed  at  once  upon  things  rudimentary  and  things 
advanced,  by  building  its  plans  upward  and  downward  at  the  same 
moment,  by  considering  both  the  beginnings  and  the  ends,  so  as  to  pro- 
vide consistently  for  all  who  may  be  called  scholars  in  every  grade  from 
the  lower  to  the  higher.  At  all  events,  we  must  guard  ourselves  from 
so  emphasizing  petty  details  or  small  problems  as  to  see  them  out  of 
proportion  or  to  render  our  vision  incapable  of  apprehending  the  great 
combinations  and  symmetries  into  which  properly  they  are  to  be  fitted. 

But  attention  to  these  eminently  practical  objects  will  inevitably 
drive  us  back  into  the  domain  of  theory  or  philosophy.  Lines  of  inves- 
tigation like  the  foregoing  will  involve  sooner  or  later  the  scrutiny  of  such 
a  psychological  problem  as  the  relations  and  interplay  of  what  are  called 
the  aesthetic  faculties  and  those  of  the  soul.  That  they  have  close  con- 
nections in  most  minds  seems  to  be  a  fact.  That  the  appeal  to  the  former 
often  results  in  an  impulse  to  the  latter  seems  also  to  be  a  fact.  But,  on 
the  other  hand,  aesthetic  delight  is  often  mistaken  for  spiritual  exaltation, 
and  many  of  the  artistic  elaborations  of  public  worship  seem  peculiarly 
liable  to  encourage  self-delusions  of  this  class.  Criticism  and  inter- 
pretation and  aesthetic  experience  have  their  unmistakable  fallacies. 
Perhaps  the  adequate  solution  of  the  problems  thus  suggested  is  impossi- 
ble; but  somewhere  in  our  study  place  should  be  made  for  a  really 
scholarly  discussion  of  at  least  the  elements  of  the  problem  as  it  stands. 

This  query  leads  on  to  a  more  particular  one — whether  in  average 
cases  the  awakening  of  truly  spiritual  aptitudes  and  impulses  may  not 
be  hastened  by  working  specially  upon  the  perceptions  and  also  the 
constructive  cravings  connected  with  the  beautiful.  In  a  general  way 
this  principle  is  accepted  in  current  theories  of  school  and  college  educa- 
tion. Who  can  describe  the  possible  consequences  to  mental  and 
spiritual  development  of  discipline,  for  instance,  in  poetry,  in  song,  in 
carving,  in  the  analysis  or  the  reproduction  of  objects  of  natural  beauty  ? 
How  potent  sometimes  has  been  the  mysterious  reaction  upon  the  mind 
in  the  formative  period  of  natural  scenery  in  some  grand  or  intensely 
beautiful  form !  Is  it  possible  that  the  church  has  here  a  great  lesson  to 
learn  ?  Might  she  not  seize  the  principle  involved  for  her  own  ends  and 
apply  it  far  more  energetically  and  systematically  than  is  the  custom  ? 
Probably  all  of  us  would  answer  this  with  some  sort  of  an  affirmative, 
but  we  shall  need  to  discuss  the  matter  at  length  before  we  reach  any 


ARTISTIC  INFLUENCES  IN  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION     513 

consensus  of  how  the  church  can  and  should  go  about  it.  That  general 
aesthetic  culture  as  an  efficient  arm  of  evangelization  and  edification  is 
worth  study  we  may  easily  agree ;  but  it  is  quite  another  question  how  to 
bring  it  into  wide-spread  use.  How  ought  it  to  be  presented  to  theologi- 
cal students,  for  instance,  how  to  active  pastors  and  church  leaders,  and 
how  to  the  rank  and  file  of  Christians  ?  Just  how  might  the  idea  be 
incorporated  into  parish  activities  so  as  to  avoid  abuses  and  to  secure 
results?  The  questions  that  may  be  asked  in  this  direction  are  prac- 
tically endless. 

Another  particular  problem  is  as  to  the  actually  existing  schemes  of 
education  in  artistic  subjects  that  are  faced  toward  religious  uses.  Almost 
all  of  our  larger  music  schools  offer  courses  in  church  music  of  some  kind, 
both  vocal  and  instrumental.  What  is  the  scope  of  these  courses? 
Where  are  they  excellent,  and  where  defective  in  range  or  spirit  ?  How 
might  they  be  improved,  and  how  can  the  churches  secure  betterments 
and  also  be  led  to  benefit  more  from  them  ?  Every  one  of  our  theological 
schools  gives  attention  to  one  or  more  of  the  topics  that  belong  to  our 
field.  How  far  is  this  attention  satisfactory,  and  how  far  is  it  distinctly 
unsatisfactory  ?  Is  there  not  a  call  for  agitation  in  the  direction  of  a 
decided  increase  in  opportunities  for  young  ministers  to  experience 
artistic  impressions  and  to  recognize  their  spiritual  possibilities?  Can 
this  be  done  in  such  a  way  as  to  escape  the  dangers  of  sentimentalism 
and  of  mere  dilettantism  ?  What  are  our  architectural  schools  doing 
for  the  cause  of  noble  church-building  and  decoration  ?  Have  such 
schools  anywhere  any  close  affiliation  with  the  churches  that  their 
students  may  be  called  to  serve  ?  These  questions,  also,  multiply  enor- 
mously upon  our  hands  as  we  stop  to  think. 

Still  another  particular  problem  regards  the  business  enterprises 
that  are  in  operation  for  the  supply  of  all  kinds  of  artistic  appliances 
for  church  use — the  many  music  publishers  who  make  a  specialty  of 
church  music;  the  periodicals  that  devote  space  regularly  to  the  discus- 
sion of  musical,  architectural,  and  other  related  matters  in  ecclesiastical 
circles;  the  purveyors  of  stained-glass  windows,  of  statuary,  and  of  other 
decorative  objects;  the  many  builders  of  church  organs  and  other  instru- 
ments; the  distributors  of  all  sorts  of  pictures  and  illustrated  leaflets  by 
which  the  minds  of  Sunday-school  pupils  are  influenced.  Are  not  all 
or  some  of  these  important  ?  And  should  not  our  work  include  some 
study  of  the  facts  ? 

Now,  not  to  prolong  this  apparently  interminable  catalogue  of  the 
possibilities  that  call  to  us  from  different  sides,  and  that  perhaps  bewilder 
us  by  their  multipHcity,  let  me  conclude  with  a  brief  suggestion  about  the 


514  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

further  organization  of  our  Department.     Simply  to  save  time,  allow 
me  to  embody  my  thought  in  a  series  of  propositions: 

1.  As  to  the  formal  definition  of  our  field — probably  we  cannot  at 
once  draft  any  adequate  statement  of  either  its  limits  or  its  natural 
divisions,  but  it  would  be  helpful  if  someone  could  be  appointed  to  pre- 
sent such  a  statement  at  the  next  annual  meeting  for  discussion  and 
ultimate  adoption  as  a  kind  of  constitution. 

2.  As  to  a  definite  working  policy  for  the  year  just  before  us — the 
Department  should  at  this  meeting  name  those  specific  topics  that  stand 
out  as  most  practical  and  interesting  for  immediate  examination,  so 
that  the  officers  should  have  a  warrant  for  whatever  they  are  to  do. 

3.  As  to  the  methods  of  work  to  be  pursued  in  these  selected  topics — 
some  opinion  should  be  put  on  record  as  to  whether  emphasis  should  be 
laid  upon  the  collection  and  analysis  of  facts,  or  upon  the  drafting  and 
mutual  study  of  theoretical  essays,  or  upon  the  exertion  of  practical 
suggestion  and  pressure  in  certain  specified  quarters.  The  Department 
should  assume  the  responsibility  for  this  general  decision. 

4.  As  to  the  next  annual  meeting — we  should,  of  course,  look  for- 
ward to  having  reports  and  results  presented  of  whatever  is  done  during 
the  year,  but  it  may  seem  best  at  this  time  to  order  how  this  shall  be 
done  and  whether  anything  further  should  be  attempted,  as,  for  instance, 
in  the  way  of  securing  essays  or  addresses  by  outside  specialists. 

5.  As  to  the  increase  of  the  number  of  persons  definitely  enrolled 
in  the  Association  because  of  their  interest  in  the  work  of  this  Depart- 
ment— it  would  seem  that  it  lies  with  us  to  outline  some  method  by 
which  such  increase  can  be  secured.  It  will  be  of  slight  importance 
what  a  small  circle  of  us  happen  to  say  or  do  within  our  own  circle. 
But  the  influence  of  this  Department  can  be  made  considerable  if  we  can 
draw  into  active  co-operation  a  large  number  of  representative  and 
enterprising  men  and  women  all  over  the  country.  In  some  respects 
this  is  the  most  pressing  need  just  at  this  time. 


THE  SECOND  CONVENTION 

PROCEEDINGS  AND  MEMBERSHIP 


THE  MINUTES   OF  THE   CONVENTION 

FIRST  SESSION 

WEDNESDAY    EVENING,    MARCH    2 

The  first  general  session  of  the  Convention  was  held  in  the  Academy  of 
Music  at  7:45  o'clock.  The  meeting  was  called  to  order  by  Rev.  Amory  H. 
Bradford,  D.D.,  Vice-President  of  the  Association,  pastor  of  the  First  Con- 
gregational Church,  Montclair,  N.  J.  The  Scriptures  were  read  by  President 
Joseph  Swain,  LL.D.,  Swarthmore  College,  and  prayer  was  offered  by  Bishop 
Cyrus  D.  Foss,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  The 
address  of  welcome  was  made  by  Professor  Martin  G.  Brumbaugh,  Ph.D., 
LL.D.,  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  Chairman  of  the  Philadelphia  Com- 
mittee of  Arrangements.  The  response  was  by  Vice-President  Bradford  in 
behalf  of  the  Association. 

THE   president's   ANNUAL   ADDRESS 

Then  followed  the  Annual  Address  by  President  Frank  Knight  Sanders, 
Ph.D.,  D.D.,  dean  of  the  Theological  Faculty  of  Yale  University,  New 
Haven,  Conn.  The  address  reviewed  the  work  of  the  Association  during  the 
first  year  of  its  history,  reaffirmed  the  aim  of  the  Association,  and  set  forth 
somewhat  fully  its  chief  ideas  and  principles. 

THE   THEME   OF   THE   CONVENTION 

The  program  of  the  general  sessions  of  the  Convention  was  carefully  con- 
structed upon  the  main  theme,  "The  Bible  in  Practical  Life."  The 
general  sessions  were  five  in  number,  including  the  Joint  Session  of  Depart- 
ments on  Thursday  morning,  and  the  business  session  on  Friday  morning. 

ADDRESSES   ON    "THE   BIBLE   IN   RELIGIOUS    EXPERIENCE" 

The  theme  of  the  addresses  on  Wednesday  evening  was  "The  Bible  in 
Religious  Experience."  Professor  Thomas  C.  Hall,  D.D.,  Union  Theological 
Seminar)',  New  York  city,  spoke  upon  "The  Unique  Character  and  Value 
of  the  Bible  as  an  Interpreter  of  Life."  Bishop  Alexander  Mackay-Smith,  D.D., 
of  the  Diocese  of  Pennsylvania,  spoke  upon  "Its  Adequacy  in  Dealing  with 
the  Crises  and  Emergencies  of  Life."  And  Rev.  Edward  Judson,  D.D., 
pastor  of  the  Memorial  Baptist  Church,  New  York  city,  and  professor  of 
homiletics  at  the  University  of  Chicago,  spoke  upon  "Its  Importance  as  a 
Factor  in  Promoting  Spiritual  Efficiency  and  Growth." 

The  session  was  closed  with  prayer  and  benediction  by  Rev.  Kerr  Boyce 
Tupper,  D.D.,  pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church,  Philadelphia. 

517 


5i8  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

SECOND  SESSION 

THURSDAY  MORNING,   MARCH   3 

The  second  session  of  the  Convention  was  held  in  the  First  Baptist  Church. 
The  Scriptures  were  read  by  President  Caroline  Hazard,  Litt.D.,  Wellesley 
College,  Wellesley,  Mass.  Prayer  was  offered  by  President  Henry  G.  Weston, 
D.D.,  LL.D.,  Crozer  Theological  Seminary,  Upland,  Pa. 

BUSINESS 

The  President  of  the  Association  appointed  as  Secretaries  for  the  Con- 
vention, Mr.  Henry  E.  Rpsevear,  state  secretary  of  the  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association,  Louisville,  Ky.,  and  Rev.  George  F.  Nason,  pastor  of  the 
North  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church,  New  Rochelle,  N.  Y.  Also  a  Committee 
on  Nominations,  of  which  Mr.  E.  F.  See,  secretary  of  the  Brooklyn  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  was  chairman;  a  Committee 
on  Resolutions,  of  which  Chancellor  James  H.  Kirkland,  LL.D.,  Vanderbilt 
University,  Nashville,  Tenn.,  was  chairman;  and  a  Committee  on  Enrolment, 
of  which  Rev.  C.  R.  Blackall,  D.D.,  of  Philadelphia,  was  chairman. 

The  President  stated  that,  unless  action  was  proposed  to  the  contrary, 
the  time  and  order  of  the  speakers  in  the  general  sessions  would  be  the  same 
as  those  observed  at  the  Convention  of  1903,  namely,  that  the  addresses  be 
limited  to  twenty  minutes  each,  and  the  discussions  to  eight  minutes  each; 
the  speaker  in  each  case  to  be  notified  by  a  stroke  of  the  bell  when  he  enters 
upon  the  last  minute  of  his  time,  and  by  a  double  stroke  of  the  bell  when  the 
last  minute  is  completed;  the  time  of  no  speaker  to  be  extended;  addresses 
from  the  floor,  following  the  regular  program,  to  be  limited  to  three  minutes 
each;  members  to  be  called  by  the  Chairman;  those  desiring  to  speak  upon  the 
subjects  under  discussion  to  send  their  cards  to  the  Secretary  of  the  session 
by  the  ushers  at  the  close  of  the  principal  addresses. 

ADDRESSES   ON    "RELIGIOUS   EDUCATION   IN   THE   HOME" 

This  being  the  Joint  Session  of  Departments,  the  general  theme  was  one 
which  pertained  to  a  number  of  the  departments,  "Religious  Education  in 
the  Home."  The  first  address  was  by  Rev.  Ira  Landrith,  LL.D.,  General 
Secretary  of  the  Religious  Education  Association,  on  "The  Religious  Oppor- 
tunity of  the  Home."  Professor  Richard  Green  Moulton,  Ph.D.,  of  the  Uni- 
vesity  of  Chicago,  spoke  upon  "The  Art  of  Telling  Bible  Stories."  Walter 
L.  Hervey,  Ph.D.,  examiner  of  the  Board  of  Education,  New  York  city, 
spoke  upon  "Memory  Work  in  Character  Forming."  And  Professor  Caleb 
T.  Winchester,  LL.D.,  Wesleyan  University,  Middletown,  Conn.,  spoke  upon 
"Literature  as  a  Means  of  Religious  Education  in  the  Home." 

The  general  subject  of  the  session  was  further  discussed  by  Professor 
Herman  H.  Home,  Ph.D.,  of  Dartmouth  College,  Hanover,  N.  H.,  Miss 
Mary  E.  Hutcheson,  chairman  Committee  on  Education,  Ohio  Congress  of 
Mothers,  Columbus,  O.,  and  Rev.  Charles  L.  Fry,  pastor  of  St.  Luke's  Luth- 
eran Church,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 


THE  MINUTES  OF  THE  CONVENTION  519 

At  the  close  of  the  addresses  and  discussion,  prayer  and  benediction  were 
offered  by  Professor  Benjamin  W.  Bacon,  D.D.,  Yale  Divinity  School,  New 
Haven,  Conn. 

THIRD  SESSION 

THURSDAY   EVENING,   MARCH   3 

The  Convention  assembled  for  its  third  session  at  7 :  45  o'clock  in  the  First 
Baptist  Church.  The  Scriptures  were  read  by  Walter  C.  Douglas,  general 
secretary  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  Philadelphia.  Prayer 
was  offered  by  Rev.  William  C.  Bitting,  D.D.,  pastor  Mount  Morris  Baptist 
Church,  New  York  city. 

ADDRESSES   ON    "THE   BIBLE   IN   EDUCATION" 

The  first  address  was  by  Professor  John  E.  McFadyen,  A.M.,  Knox  Col- 
lege, Toronto,  Can.,  upon  "The  Qualities  which  Make  the  Bible  Educationally 
Valuable."  Miss  Josephine  L.  Baldwin,  superintendent  of  Elementary  Work 
m  the  New  Jersey  State  Sunday  School  Association,  Newark,  N.  J.,  spoke 
upon  "The  Contact  of  Biblical  Material  with  the  Experience  of  the  Child." 
Professor  George  E.  Dawson,  Ph.D.,  of  the  Hartford  School  of  Religious 
Pedagogy,  Hartford,  Conn.,  spoke  upon  "The  Contact  of  Biblical  Material 
with  Adolescent  Life;"  and  President  William  H.  P.  Faunce,  D.D.,  Brown 
University,  Providence,  R.  I.,  spoke  upon  "The  Co-ordination  of  the  Bible 
with  Other  Subjects  of  Study." 

Following  these  four  addresses  the  general  theme  was  discussed  by  Rabbi 
Abram  Simon,  Washington  Hebrew  Congregation,  Washington,  D.  C,  Presi- 
dent Mary  E.  WooUey,  Litt.D.,  Mount  Holyoke  College,  South  Hadley,  Mass., 
and  Rev.  William  F.  McDowell,  Ph.D.,  S.T.D.,  formerly  secretary  of  Educa- 
tion of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  now  Bishop  at  Chicago. 

At  the  close  of  the  addresses  and  discussions  of  the  evening,  prayer  and 
benediction  were  offered  by  Rev.  L.  H.  Hainer,  pastor  Calvary  Baptist  Church, 
Norristown,  Pa. 

FOURTH  SESSION 

FRIDAY   MORNING,    MARCH   4 

The  fourth  session  was  held  in  the  First  Baptist  Church  at  lo  o'clock. 
It  was  the  business  session  of  the  Convention.  The  Scriptures  were  read  by 
Professor  Amos  H.  Haines,  Juniata  College,  Huntingdon,  Pa.  Prayer  was 
offered  by  Rev.  Thomas  P.  Stevenson,  D.D.,  editor  of  the  Christian  States- 
man, Philadelphia,  Pa. 

THE   ANNUAL   BUSINESS   MEETING 

At  8:00  A.  M.  the  officers  of  the  Association  had  eaten  a  breakfast  together 
at  the  Hotel  Colonnade,  and  had  conferred  with  reference  to  the  financial 
needs  of  the  Association.  The  meeting  was  called  to  order  by  the  President, 
Frank  Knight  Sanders.     The  minutes  of  the  last  meeting  of  the  Association 


520  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

having  been  published  in  the  Proceedings,  the   reading  of  the  minutes  was 
waived,  and  they  were  adopted  as  printed. 

In  the  absence  of  the  Chairman  of  the  Executive  Board,  President  WiUiam 
R.  Harper,  the  Recording  Secretary  made  an  informal  report  of  the  work  of 
the  Board  for  the  year,  as  follows: 

THE  ANNUAL  REPORT  OF  THE  CHAIRMAN  OF  THE  EXECUTIVE  BOARD 

Twenty-one  meetings  of  the  Executive  Board  have  been  held  in  the  City  of 
Chicago,  one  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Directors  has  been  held  in  Chicago,  one  in 
Boston,  and  one  in  Philadelphia;  the  Executive  Board  has  elected  over  two  hundred 
general  and  departmental  officers  of  the  Association;  established  headquarters  in 
Chicago;  published  the  volume  ol Proceedings  and  other  printed  matter;  secured  legal 
incorporation  for  the  Association;  on  May  21st  elected  Wallace  N.  Stearns,  Ph.D., 
Financial  Secretary;  on  October  9th  elected  Ira  Landrith,  LL.D.,  General  Secre- 
tary; on  November  6th  elected  Clyde  W.  Votaw,  Ph.D.,  Editorial  Secretary;  secured 
1,647  members  for  the  Association ;  started  a  system  of  publicity;  made  preparations 
for  the  present  Convention. 

The  General  Secretary  presented  the  following  report : 

THE     ANNUAL    REPORT     OF     THE    GENERAL    SECRETARY 

Because  the  General  Secretary  was  not  formally  employed  until  November  i, 
1903,  and  because  he  was  unable  to  devote  his  entire  time  to  the  work  prior  to  Janu- 
ary I,  1904,  he  concludes  that  his  report  should  be  both  brief  and  informal.  To 
Acting  General  Secretary  Votaw  and  Financial  Secretary  Stearns  is  due  the  credit 
for  practially  all  of  the  work  done  by  the  Executive  Office  for  the  fiscal  year  ending 
January  31,  1904.  The  General  Secretary  has  given  much  time  to  the  final  details 
of  preparation  for  the  present  Convention,  and  to  a  study  of  the  work  which  the 
Religious  Education  Association  is  doing  and  the  vastly  wider  work  it  ought  to  do. 
The  few  plans  which  the  General  Secretary  has  inaugurated  and  the  numerous 
other  methods  he  is  maturing,  with  their  results,  will  be  proper  subjects  for  a  report 
to  the  next  Annual  Convention. 

For  the  present  I  am  content  to  say  that  this  service  has  been  undertaken  in 
the  hope  that  the  members  and  friends  of  the  Association  will  exercise  toward  the 
General  Secretary  such  forbearance,  and  extend  to  him  such  counsel  and  co-opera- 
tion, as  shall  insure  success  to  the  great  cause  we  have  together  espoused. 

Ira  Landrith, 

General  Secretary. 

The  Editorial  Secretary  presented  the  following  report: 

THE    annual    report    OF    THE    EDITORIAL    SECRETARY 

The  office  of  Editorial  Secretary  was  not  provided  by  the  constitution  as  created 
by  the  first  Convention,  but  was  arranged  by  the  Executive  Board  as  a  necessary 
division  of  the  Secretarial  work  of  the  Association,  and  was  voted  by  the  Directors 
at  Boston,  July  7th.  The  present  incumbent  of  the  Secretaryship  was  elected  to 
the  position  by  the  Executive  Board  November  6th,  having  served  as  Acting  Secre- 
tary of  the  Association  until  that  date.  In  this  former  relation  the  editorial  work  of 
the  year  was  chiefly  done. 

The  special  features  of  the  editorial  work  for  1903-4  have  been  as  follows: 

I.   The  first  work  after  the  Convention  was  the  publication  of  a  pamphlet  of 


THE  MINUTES  OF  THE  CONVENTION  521 

forty  pages,  giving:  (i)  an  account  of  the  Convention;  (2)  the  constitution  of  the 
Association;  (3)  the  list  of  officers;  (4)  a  group  of  extracts  from  religious  papers 
indorsing  the  Convention.  Seven  thousand  five  hundred  copies  of  this  pamphlet 
were  distributed  to  a  select  mailing  list.  These  accompanied  invitations  to  member- 
ship in  the  Association,  and  nearly  1,300  active  members  were  secured  in  about 
two  months. 

2.  The  second  piece  of  editorial  work  was  the  publication  of  the  volume  of 
Proceedings,  issued  in  the  middle  of  June.  The  volume  is  octavo  size,  consisting 
of  432  pages.  It  contains:  (t)  all  the  addresses  given  at  the  Convention;  (2)  an 
account  of  the  origin  of  the  movement;  (3)  the  committees  in  charge  of  the  Con- 
vention; (4)  the  list  of  contributors  to  the  Convention;  (5)  the  minutes  of  the 
Convention;  (6)  the  Constitution  of  the  Association;  (7)  the  officers  of  the  Associa- 
tion; (8)  the  members  of  the  Association.  The  edition  of  this  book  was  4,000 
copies,  of  which  about  2,500  have  already  been  sold.  The  cost  of  printing  was 
about  $2,000. 

3.  Next  was  issued  Official  Bulletin  No.  i,  August  ist.  This  was  a  sixteen- 
page  pamphlet  containing  an  account  of  the  meetings  of  officers  in  Boston,  July 
7-9,  and  the  report  of  the  Chairman  of  the  Executive  Board  to  the  Board  of  Direct- 
ors concerning  the  progress  and  work  of  the  Association  from  February  12th,  the 
date  of  organization,  until  July  ist.  Two  thousand  copies  of  this  Bulletin  No.  i 
were  printed,  a  copy  being  sent  to  each  member  of  the  Association. 

4.  About  August  ist  also  was  printed  a  small  circular  of  thirty-two  pages, 
setting  forth  the  main  facts  about  the  Rehgious  Education  Association  for  the  pur- 
pose of  conveying  general  information  to  the  public.  Twenty-five  thousand  copies 
of  this  circular  have  been  printed  and  distributed  during  the  last  six  months. 

5.  Official  Bulletin  No.  2  was  issued  December  ist,  5,000  copies.  It  was  a 
sixteen-page  pamphlet  containing  announcements  of  the  election  of  the  Genera] 
Secretary  and  of  the  Editorial  Secretary,  and  a  statement  of  the  arrangements  and 
general  program  for  this  Philadelphia  Convention. 

6.  The  preliminary  announcement  of  the  Convention,  a  small  twenty-four-page 
circular,  was  issued  February  ist,  giving  the  full  program  of  general  and  depart- 
mental sessions,  and  other  information.  Ten  thousand  copies  were  printed  and 
distributed. 

7.  The  complete  program  of  the  Convention  which  is  in  your  hands  at  this 
time,  a  thirty-two-page  pamphlet,  was  printed  here  in  Philadelphia  under  the  imme- 
diate direction  of  the  Committee  of  Arrangements. 

Clyde  Weber  Votaw, 

Editorial  Secretary. 

The  Financial  Secretary  presented  the  following  report: 

THE    ANNUAL    REPORT    OF    THE    FINANCIAL    SECRETARY 
The  duties  of  this  office  have  been  to  bring  the  work  before  as  large  a  public 
as  possible  by  means  of  printed  matter,  to  secure  funds,  and  to  conduct  the  business 
of  the  Association  with  the  utmost  economy. 

The  work  of  publicity  has  been  as  follows:  (i)  Following  the  Convention, 
7,500  invitations  to  membership  were  sent  out,  as  a  result  of  which  about  1,272 
memberships  were  received  in  March  and  April.  (2)  A  forty-page  pamphlet, 
giving  a  full  account  of  the  Convention  and  a  series  of  extracts  from  religious  papers 
commending  the  movement,  was  sent  out  with  these  7,500  invitations.     (3)  Each 


522  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

member  of  the  Association  has  been  asked  by  letter  to  solicit  new  memberships; 
the  necessary  literature  for  conducting  a  personal  canvass  has  been  furnished  by 
the  Executive  Office.  (4)  800  letters  with  Hterature  have  been  sent  to  persons  whose 
names  have  been  given  to  the  Executive  Office  by  members  of  the  Association.  (5) 
In  order  to  secure  the  observance  of  Bible  Sunday  on  October  4,  1903,  io,coo  letters 
were  sent  out  to  pastors  of  different  denominations.  Literature  was  provided  in 
each  case  and  the  Association  was  judiciously  advertised.  A  second  letter  (1,000 
copies)  was  sent  to  those  who  responded  to  the  call.  (6)  600  educational  institu- 
tions have  been  invited  to  assume  institutional  membership.  (7)  600  libraries 
have  been  canvassed  for  the  sale  of  the  Proceedings.  (8)  Some  of  the  more  impor- 
tant Summer  Assemblies  have  been  carefully  canvassed  both  by  representatives  of 
the  Association  and  by  distribution  of  literature.  (9)  Two  bulletins  (No.  i,  2,000; 
No.  2,  5,000  copies)  have  been  sent  out  to  members,  and  to  others.  (10)  An  appeal 
has  been  made  in  behalf  of  the  Sustaining  Fund,  1,700  persons  being  addressed. 
(11)  Letters  with  literature  have  been  sent  to  1,600  officers  of  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association.  (12)  The  various  Church  Unions  of  Chicago  have  been 
diligently  canvassed — 700  persons.  (13)  60  of  the  leading  rehgious  journals  have 
been  kept  informed  of  the  work  of  the  Association.  (14)  200  personal  letters  have 
been  sent  to  persons  of  position  and  influence  soliciting  their  membership.  (15) 
It  was  the  policy  of  the  Executive  Office  after  the  first  half  of  the  year  to  send  out 
bills  for  delinquent  membership  dues  every  sixty  days  until  remittance  was  secured. 
(16)  600  letters  have  been  sent  to  persons  who  had  already  been  invited  to  member- 
ship, but  from  whom  no  reply  had  been  received.  (17)  10,000  copies  of  the  prehmi- 
nary  program  of  this  Convention  were  distributed. 

The  membership  of  the  Association  is  now  1,647,  of  which  33  are  institutional 
memberships.  Of  this  total  number,  1,272  were  secured  early  in  the  year  and 
their  names  were  published  in  the  list  of  charter  members  in  the  first  volume  of 
Proceedings.  During  the  remainder  of  the  year  375  new  members  have  been 
added. 


Receipts  from  Feb.  12  until  June  30,  1903 $2,316.39 

Receipts  from  memberships  from  July  i,  1903,  to  Feb.  29,  1904 2,803.89 

Receipts  from  sale  of  Proceedings 540 .  70 

Receipts  from  contributions — 

For  one  year $353  ■  00 

Annually  for  three  years 659 .  00 

1,012.00 


$6,672.98 

EXPENDITURES 

Deficit  assumed  from  first  Convention $739  •  20 

Salaries — 

General  Secretary  (four  months) $i>333  •  32 

Financial  Secretary  (nine  months) 749 .97 

Stenographic  service 895  .  64 

2,978.93 


Rent  of  office  (eleven  months) 345 .  62 

Office  furniture 490 .  70 

Postage  and  express i)i52  ■  69 


THE  MINUTES  OF  THE  CONVENTION  523 

EXPENDITURES — continued 

Printing 

Traveling  expenses 

Current  expenses  (including  office  supplies,  telephone, 

typewriter  rental,  stationery) 


SUMMARY 

Income 

Expenditures $6,464 .  34 

Cash  and  checks  in  hand 54  00 

On  deposit  in  Commercial  National  Bank 154.64 


173 
383 

30 
03 

200 

87 

$6,464 

34 

$6,672 

98 

3,672.98 

LIABILITIES 

Printing  of  the  volume  of  Proceedings,  4,000  copies $2,000.00 

Express  on  2,000  copies 400 . 00 

Printing  of  Bulletins,  circulars,  and  letters 2,207  ■  49 


$4,607.49 
ASSETS 

1,854  copies  of  Proceedings  on  hand $1,854.00 

Bills  receivable 3 1  ■  00 

Contributions  pledged,  still  due 81 .  00 

Annual  dues  for  1903  yet  unpaid  (estimated  value) 140.00 

Balance  in  Commercial  National  Bank 154 .  64 


$2,260.64 
Approved:  Wallace  N.  Stearns, 

James  Herron  Eckels,  Financial  Secretary. 

Treasurer. 

The  foregoing  reports  of  the  Secretaries  were  accepted  and  ordered  placed 
on  file. 

On  behalf  of  the  Committee  on  Nominations,  which  was  appointed  at 
the  second  session  of  the  Convention,  Mr.  Edwin  F.  See  offered  the  following 
nominations: 

For  President  of  the  Association,  Rev.  Charles  Cuthbert  Hall,  D.D., 
president  of  the  Union  Theological  Seminary,  New  York  city. 

For  First  Vice-President  of  the  Association,  Professor  Francis  G.  Peabody, 
D.D.,  dean  of  the  Harvard  Divinity  School,  Cambridge,  Mass. 

For  Vice-Presidents  and  Directors  of  the  Association,  the  persons  named 
in  the  list  of  general  officers  on  pp.  536-39  below. 

Upon  motion,  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  Nominations  was  adopted. 
The  Recording  Secretary  was  instructed  to  cast  the  unanimous  ballot  for  the 
nominees,  and  they  were  thereupon  declared  elected. 

Upon  motion,  the  Executive  Board  was  authorized  to  fill  any  vacancies 
that  may  occur  during  the  year. 

Upon  motion  made  by  Dr.  Clyde  W.  Votaw,  and  duly  seconded,  the  fol- 
lowing resolution  was  unanimously  adopted  by  a  rising  vote: 


524  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

Resolved,  That  we,  the  members  of  the  Religious  Education  Association, 
hereby  express  to  Professor  Frank  Knight  Sanders,  the  president  of  this  Associa- 
tion during  the  first  year  of  its  history,  our  most  grateful  appreciation  of  his  splendid 
services  in  the  first  and  second  Conventions  and  during  the  intervening  twelve 
months,  recognizing  that  his  faith,  wisdom,  ability,  zeal,  and  labors  have  been  of  the 
utmost  importance  in  giving  direction,  character,  and  power  to  this  Association  in 
its  formative  period. 

The  Board  of  Directors  proposed  the  follovi^ing  amendments  to  the  Con- 
stitution. : 

Article  V,  section  5:  Strike  out  the  words  "July  i"  and  insert  instead 
the  vi^ords  "January  31." 

Article  V,  section  i:  For  the  word  "Secretary"  substitute  the  following: 
"General  Secretary,  Editorial  Secretary,  Recording  Secretary,  Financial  Sec- 
retary." 

Article  V,  section  3:  For  the  word  "Secretary"  substitute  the  words 
"Recording  Secretary." 

Article  V,  section  4:  In  the  first  sentence,  for  word  "Secretary"  substitute 
the  word  "Secretaries."  Also  in  the  first  sentence  for  "the  compensation" 
and  "the  term  of  office"  substitute  "their  compensation"  and  "their  term  of 
office."  Also  in  second  and  third  sentences  wherever  the  word  "Secretary" 
occurs  substitute  the  words  "Recording  Secretary." 

Article  V,  sections  6  and  7:  For  the  word  "Secretary"  substitute  the  word 
"Secretaries." 

Article  V,  section  8:  In  the  first  sentence  for  tlie  word  "and"  substitute 
a  comma,  and  after  the  word  "Secretary"  add  the  words  "and  an  Executive 
Secretary."  For  the  fourth  and  fifth  sentences  substitute  the  following:  "The 
President,  the  Secretaries,  and  not  less  than  three  nor  more  than  seven  members 
of  the  Department  shall  constitute  the  Executive  Committee  for  the  Depart- 
ment. The  Executive  Secretary  shall  be  appointed  by  the  Executive  Board, 
and  shall  hold  office  continuously,  subject  to  the  action  of  the  Board.  His 
duty  shall  be  to  keep  the  machinery  of  the  Department  in  motion.  The  Presi- 
dent, the  Recording  Secretary,  and  the  remaining  members  of  the  Executive 
Committee  shall  be  elected  by  ballot  on  a  majority  vote  of  the  members  of 
the  Department  present  and  voting  at  a  meeting  held  at  the  time  of  the  Annual 
Convention,  and  they  shall  hold  office  for  one  year  or  until  their  successors  are 
chosen." 

Article  III,  section  i:  Make  the  section  read,  after  the  word  "(16)",  as 
follows:    "Summer  Assemblies,  (17)  Religious  Art  and  Music." 

Article  IV,  section  2,  and  Article  V,  section  8:  For  the  word  "sixteen" 
substitute  the  word  "seventeen." 

Article  IV,  section  6:  For  the  words  "April  i"  substitute  the  words 
"January  i." 

These  proposed  amendments  were  considered  seriatim,  and  each  of  them 
was  unanimously  adopted. 

The  Editorial  Secretary  reported  informally  that,  through  efforts  made  by 


THE  MINUTES  OF  THE  CONVENTION  525 

certain  of  the  officers  of  the  Association,  the  authorities  of  the  Louisiana  Pur- 
chase Exposition  have  decided  to  include  the  subject  of  Practical  Religion  in 
the  program  of  the  International  Congress  of  Arts  and  Science,  for  the  week 
September  19th  to  25th. 

At  the  request  of  the  Association,  the  Rev.  Franklin  D.  Elmer,  pastor  of 
the  Baptist  Church  at  Winsted,  Conn.,  described  a  plan  for  organizing  local 
branches  of  the  Association. 

Under  the  leadership  of  Mr.  William  Shaw,  treasurer  of  the  United 
Society  of  Christian  Endeavor,  Boston,  Mass.,  an  appeal  for  funds  was  made. 
The  appeal  resulted  in  pledges  to  give  or  try  to  raise  a  total  of  $4,353.00  before 
the  close  of  the  current  fiscal  year.' 

George  A.  Coe, 

Recording  Secretary. 

THE  ANNUAL  SURVEY  OF  PROGRESS 

Following  the  business  session  of  the  Convention,  the  "Annual  Survey  of 
Progress  in  Religious  and  Moral  Education"  was  given  by  President  Charles 
Cuthbert  Hall,  D.D.,  of  the  Union  Theological  Seminary,  New  York  city, 
the  newly  elected  President  of  the  Association. 

At  the  close  of  President  Hall's  address,  prayer  was  offered  and  the  bene- 
diction pronounced  by  Rev.  Wayland  Hoyt,  D.D.,  pastor  of  the  Epiphany 
Baptist  Church,  Philadelphia. 

FIFTH  SESSION 

FRIDAY   EVENING,   MARCH   4 

The  last  general  session  of  the  Convention  met  at  7 :  45  in  Grace  Baptist 
Temple.  The  Scripture  reading  was  by  Rufus  W.  Miller,  D.D.,  editor  of  the 
Sunday-school  Board  of  the  Reformed  Church,  Philadelphia,  Pa.  Prayer  was 
offered  by  Rev.  Floyd  W.  Tomkins,  D.D.,  rector  of  Holy  Trinity  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

THE   RESOLUTIONS   OF   THE   CONVENTION 

The  Committee  on  Resolutions,  appointed  at  the  second  session  of  the 
Convention,  presented  its  report.  In  addition  to  the  customary  resolutions  in 
recognition  of  the  cordial  and  efficient  entertainment  of  the  Convention  by  the 
citizens  of  Philadelphia,  and  in  particular  the  Local  Committee,  the  following 
general  resolutions  were  offered  and  adopted  by  vote  of  the  Convention: 

The  Religious  Education  Association,  assembled  in  its  Second  Annual  Con- 
vention, declares  its  conviction — 

I.  That,  owing  in  large  measure  to  rapid  changes  in  the  conditions  of  modern 
life,  an  emergency  has  arisen  in  respect  to  the  training  of  the  young  in  the  matters 
that  pertain  to  character.  To  turn  the  heart  of  our  people  to  those  riches  of  the 
spirit  that  outweigh  material  prosperity;  to  inspire  our  nation  with  the  principles 
that  alone  can  give  it  perpetuity  or  true  glory;  to  withstand  the  rising  tide  of  disre- 

■  A  full  report  will  be  made  to  the  next  Annual  Convention  of  all  amounts  contributed  to  the 
Association  during  the  fiscal  year,  Feb.  i,  1904,  to  Jan.  31,  1905. 


526  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

gard  for  law  that  threatens  to  overwhelm  our  people,  and  that  manifests  itself  even 
in  our  schools — this  will  require  a  general  revival  of  religious  and  moral  education. 

2.  That  such  education  depends  primarily  upon  the  influence  of  high  per- 
sonality. The  call  that  comes  to  us  from  the  young  is  first  of  all  a  call  to  do  the  will 
of  God  in  Christly  living.  But  personality  becomes  doubly  effective  when  parent 
or  teacher  pursues  methods  that  accord  with  the  nature  of  the  child  as  well  as  the 
nature  of  virtue.  There  is  needed  in  all  directions  more  knowledge  of  the  aims, 
principles,  and  methods  of  education,  and  a  wider  diffusion  of  such  knowledge. 

3.  That  the  most  important  institution  for  the  development  of  character  is 
the  family.  Yet  precisely  here  disintegrating  forces  are  most  evident.  Partly 
through  neglect,  partly  through  the  difficulty  of  adjusting  family  training  to  the 
complications  of  modern  Hfe,  the  rising  generation  is  being  largely  neglected  at  the 
most  vital  point. 

4.  That  in  any  complete  plan  for  character-training,  the  Bible  must  have  a 
permanent  and  unique  place.  Somewhere  within  our  trinity  of  educational  insti- 
tutions— the  home,  the  church,  and  the  school — the  child  is  entitled  to  receive 
possession  of  those  treasures  of  spiritual  truth  and  inspiration  that  have  been  the 
strength  of  our  fathers,  and  that  are  still  the  real  strength  of  our  civilization.  To 
this  end  no  equipment  in  the  way  of  personal  study  on  the  part  of  parents  and 
teachers,  or  in  the  way  of  means  and  methods,  can  be  too  costly. 

To  promote  these  ends  this  Association  will  devote  its  energies  during  the  com- 
ing year;  first,  to  investigation  and  practical  stimulation  in  the  various  directions 
r.^presented  by  its  seventeen  Departments;  second,  to  agitation  and  the  diffusion  of 
information  through  its  Proceedings  and  other  printed  matter,  and  through  public 
speech;  third,  to  the  organization  of  local  centers  for  the  study  of  practical  prob- 
lems in  the  light  of  established  principles;  fourth,  to  personal  effort  of  each  member 
in  his  own  station  to  practice  and  promulgate  these  principles. 

ADDRESSES   ON    "THE   BIBLE   IN   SOCIAL  AND   CIVIC   LIFE" 

The  first  address  of  the  evening  was  by  Professor  Francis  G.  Peabody,  D.D., 
dean  of  the  Divinity  School  of  Harvard  University,  Cambridge,  Mass.,  who 
spoke  upon  "The  Bible's  Recognition  of  the  Social  Needs  and  Relationships 
of  Man."  The  second  address  was  by  Rev.  Russell  H.  Conwell,  D.D.,  LL.D., 
president  of  the  Temple  College,  and  pastor  of  the  Temple  Church,  Phila- 
delphia, who  spoke  upon  "The  Bible's  Solution  of  the  Practical  Problems  of 
Modem  Life."  The  third  address,  the  closing  address  of  the  evening,  was  to 
have  been  given  by  Rev.  Frank  W.  Gunsaulus,  D.D.,  president  of  the  Armour 
Institute  of  Technology,  and  pastor  of  the  Central  Church,  Chicago,  upon 
"The  Bible's  Relation  to  Patriotism  and  Civic  Righteousness."  Dr.  Gun- 
saulus, however,  after  having  journeyed  half  the  way  to  Philadelphia  to  deliver 
this  address,  was  recalled  by  the  sudden  death  of  a  closely  related  friend. 

INTRODUCTION   OF   THE   NEW   PRESIDENT 

Following  the  main  addresses  of  the  session,  Dean  Sanders,  the  retiring 
President  of  the  Association  for  the  year  1903-4,  introduced  to  the  Convention 
the  newly  elected  President  for  the  ensuing  year,  Rev.  Charles  Cuthbert  Hall, 
D.D.,  president  of  the  Union  Theological  Seminary,  New  York  city.     Presi- 


THE  MINUTES  OF  THE  CONVENTION  527 

dent  Hall  spoke  for  ten  minutes  upon  the  specific  need  of  the  work  for  religious 
and  moral  education  which  the  Association  had  set  itself  to  do. 

ADJOURNMENT 

After  prayer  and  benediction  by  Rev.  C.  R.  Blackall,  D.D.,  of  Philadelphia, 
the  Second  Annual  Convention  of  the  Religious  Education  Association  stood 
adjourned. 

DEPARTMENTAL  SESSIONS 

The  Departmental  Sessions  of  the  Convention  were  held  on  Thursday  and 
Friday  afternoons,  at  2:30  o'clock,  in  the  rooms  of  the  First  Baptist  Church, 
and  of  other  buildings  in  the  immediate  neighborhood.  The  several  Depart- 
ments and  their  places  of  meeting  were  as  follows: 

Department  I,  The  Council  of  Religious  Education,  held  two  sessions  in 
the  First  Baptist  Church  on  Wednesday  morning  and  afternoon,  and  a  third 
session  on  Friday  morning. 

Department  II,  Universities  and  Colleges,  held  two  sessions  at  the  Chapel  of 
the  University  of  Pennsylvania  on  Thursday  and  Friday  afternoons. 

Department  III,  Theological  Seminaries,  held  two  sessions  at  the  Secona 
Presbyterian  Church,  Thursday  and  Friday  afternoons. 

Department  IV,  Churches  and  Pastors,  held  two  sessions  at  the  Calvary 
Presbyterian  Church,  Thursday  and  Friday  afternoons. 

Department  V,  Sunday  Schools,  held  two  sessions  at  the  First  Baptist 
Church,  Thursday  and  Friday  afternoons. 

Department  VI,  Secondary  Public  Schools,  held  two  sessions  at  Houston 
Hall  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  Thursday  and  Friday  afternoons. 

Department  VII,  Elementary  Public  Schools,  held  two  sessions  at  the  First 
Baptist  Church,  Thursday  and  Friday  afternoons. 

Department  VIII,  Private  Schools,  held  no  sessions  at  this  Convention. 

Department  IX,  Teacher  Training,  held  one  session  at  Griffith  Hall, 
Thursday  afternoon. 

Department  X,  Christian  Associations,  held  two  sessions  at  the  Lecture 
Room  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  Building,  Thursday  and 
Friday  afternoons. 

Department  XI,  Young  People's  Societies,  held  two  sessions  at  the  Parish 
House  of  Holy  Trinity  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  Thursday  and  Friday 
afternoons. 

Department  XII,  The  Home,  merged  its  departm  ntal  meeting  in  the 
Joint  Session  of  Departments  held  on  Thursday  morning. 

Department  XIII,  Libraries,  held  one  session  in  the  Auditorium  of  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association  Building. 

Department  XIV,  the  Press,  held  one  session  at  the  Lutheran  Church  of 
the  Holy  Communion,  on  Thursday  afternoon. 

Department  XV,  Correspondence  Instruction,  held  one  session  at  the 
Arch  Street  Presbyterian  Church,  Thursday  afternoon. 


528  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

Department  XVI,  Summer  Assemblies,  held  one  session  at  the  Arch 
Street  Presbyterian  Church,  Friday  afternoon. 

Department  XVII,  Religious  Art  and  Music,  held  two  sessions  at  the 
Ninth  Presbyterian  Church,  Thursday  and  Friday  afternoons. 

MINUTES   OF   THE   MEETINGS 

The  minutes  of  the  Departmental  Meetings  are  preserved  by  the  Record- 
ing Secretaries  of  the  Departments.  The  new  departmental  officers  elected 
may  be  seen  in  the  List  of  Officers  of  the  Association  for  the  current  year  on 
pp.  540-48  below.  The  programs  of  the  Departmental  Meetings  are  indicated 
by  the  addresses  reported  under  each  Department  named  in  the  preceding 
pages  of  this  volume. 

AN   EXHIBIT  OF   SUNDAY   SCHOOL  MATERIAL 

Under  the  direction  of  the  Department  of  Sunday  Schools,  a  valuable 
exhibit  of  Sunday-school  literature,  particularly  with  reference  to  graded 
lessons  and  to  normal  work,  w^as  prepared  by  Rev.  Milton  S.  Littlefield,  pastor 
of  the  First  Union  Presbyterian  Church,  New  York  city,  and  Dr.  W.  W. 
Smith,  secretary  of  the  Sunday  School  Commission  of  the  Diocese  of  New 
York.  The  exhibit  was  highly  useful,  and  was  greatly  appreciated  by  all  who 
attended  the  Convention. 

RECEPTION   TO   THE   CONVENTION 

On  Thursday  afternoon,  March  3,  from  four  to  six  o'clock,  a  reception 
was  tendered  the  officers  and  members  of  the  Association,  by  the  courtesy  of 
the  city  of  Philadelphia,  in  Old  Independence  Hall,  the  host  of  the  occasion 
being  Hon.  John  Wanamaker,  of  Philadelphia. 

ATTENDANCE   AT   THE   CONVENTION 

The  enrolment  of  members  at  the  Convention  reached  about  400,  approxi- 
mately the  same  number  as  were  in  attendance  upon  the  first  Annual  Con- 
vention. The  attendance  at  the  general  sessions  of  the  Convention  was  very 
large,  the  great  Academy  of  Music  on  the  first  night  being  well  filled,  the  First 
Baptist  Church  being  repeatedly  packed  with  its  audiences,  and  the  Grace 
Baptist  Temple,  which  accommodates  about  4,000  people,  was  well  filled  at 
the  closing  session. 

THE   PHILADELPHIA   COMMITTEE   OF   ARRANGEMENTS 

The  local  preparations  for  the  Convention,  and  the  entertainment  of  the 
Convention  during  its  sessions,  were  admirably  provided  by  a  Committee  of 
more  than  one  hundred  representative  citizens  of  Philadelphia,  whose  names 
follow: 

Brumbaugh,  Martin  G.,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.,  Chairman. 
Blackall,  C.  R.,  D.D.,  Secretary. 
DoAN,  Horace  A.,  Treasurer. 
Ellis,  Wm.  T.,  Chairman  0}  Committee  on  Publicity 
Antrim,  Clarence  D.,  Chairman  of  Committee  on  Transportation. 


THE  MINUTES  OF  THE  CONVENTION 


529 


Delk,  Rev.  E.  Heyl,  Chairman  of  Committee  on  Places  of  Meeting. 
Caskey,  Herbert  K.,  Chairman  0}  Committee  on  Entertainment. 
OviATT,  F.  C,  Chairman  of  Committee  on  Music. 
Camp,  George  R.,  Chairman  of  Committee  on  Local  Attendance. 
Elkinton,  Joseph,  Chairman  of  Committee  on  Finance. 
Williams,  Talcott,  Chairman  of  Committee  on  Social  Reunions. 


Allen,  Miss  Amelia  J. 

Alden,  Ezra  Hyde 

Anders,  Howard  S.,  M.D. 

Antrim,  Clarence  D. 

Arnold,  Miss  Corinne  B. 

Ashman,  Hon.  Judge  W.  N. 

Baker,  J.  Eugene 

Bartholomew,  A.  R.,  D.D. 

Bartlett,  J.  Henry 

B.\rton,  Prof.  G.  A. 

Batman,  Rev.  L.  G. 

Berkowitz,  Henry,  D.D. 

Biddle,  Miss  Elizabeth 

Birdsall,  William  W. 

Blackall,  Mrs.  C.  R. 

Blankenburg,  AIrs.  R. 

Bomberger,  Henry  A.,  D.D. 

BoswELL,  C.  M.,  D.D. 

Brazier,  Miss  Josephine 

Brecht,  Prof.  V.  B. 

Bromer,  Rev.  A.  S. 

Cadbury,  Miss  Hannah  W. 

Camp,  George  R. 

Caskey,  Herbert  K. 

Clark,  Wm.  J. 

Cohen,  Dr.  Solomon  Solis 

Colby,  Rev.  F.  C. 

CoMEGYS,  Mrs.  Florence  S. 

Conwell,  Russell  H.,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

Crawford,  James,  D.D. 

D.A.GER,  Forest  E.,  D.D. 

Delk,  Rev.  Edwin  Heyl 

Dickey,  Chas.  A.,  D.D. 

DoAN,  Horace  A. 

D'Olier,  Henry,  Jr. 

Donohugh,  Thomas  S. 

Donovan,  John  C. 

DuBois,  Patterson 

Ecob,  Rev.  J.  H. 

Edmonds,  Franklin  S. 

Edmunds,  Henry  R. 

Elkinton, Joseph 

Ellis,  William  T. 


Evans,  Thomas  S. 

Foss,  Cyrus  D.,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

Fry,  Charles  L., 

Garrett,  Albert  C. 

Garrett,  Philip  C. 

Haviland,  Walter  W. 

Hawes,  Oscar  B. 

Hoffman,  H.  S.,  D.D. 

Hainer,  Rev.  L.  H. 

Holmes,  Jesse  H.,  Ph.D. 

Holmes,  Rev.  A. 

Hopper,  Henry  S. 

Hopper,  Mrs.  H.  S. 

HoYT,  Wayland,  D.D. 

Hugo,  Augustus 

Jacobs,  Miss  Ella 

Janney,  Miss  Susan  W. 

Johnson,  Rev.  E.  E.  S. 

Jones,  Philip  L.,  D.D. 

Jones,  Prof.  Rufus  M. 

Keen,  Prof.  W.  W.,  M.D.,  LL.D. 

Lynch,  Frank  B.,  D.D. 

Michael,  Oscar  S. 

Miller,  Rufus  W.,  D.D. 

Miller,  Ewing  L. 

McCooK,  Henry  C,  D.D. 

MacFarland,  J. 

MussER,  C.  J.,  D.D. 

Myers,  Rev.  T.  T. 

Neff,  Silas  S.,  Ph.D. 

Newman,  Herman 

OviATT,  F.  C. 

Paisley,  H.  E. 

Penniman,  Josiah  H.,  Ph.D. 

Ressler,  a.  H. 

Rice,  E.  W.,  D.D. 

RuTLEDGE,  Rev.  G.  P. 

Sharpless,  Isaac.  Ph.D.,  LL.D. 

Shroy,  John  L. 

Smith,  Edgar  F.,  Ph.D.,  Sc.D. 

Sparhawk,  John 

Spicer,  R.  B. 

Stevenson,  T.  P.,  D.D. 


53° 


THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 


Swain,  Joseph,  LL.D. 

SULSBERGER,  HON.  MeYER 

Thomas,  Miss  Elizabeth 
TiERNEY,  Miss  Agnes  L. 
ToMKiNS,  F.  W.,  D.D.,  S.T.D. 
TowsoN,  C.  R. 

TUPPER,  K.  BoYCE,  D.D.,  LL.D. 
TusTiN,  Ernest  Leigh 
TuTTLE,  J.  Baker 
Vautier,  a.  H. 
Wallace,  Richard  H. 
Walton,  Joseph  S.,  Ph.D. 
Wanamaker,  Hon.  John 
Warner,  Wm.  J. 
Weaver,  Hon.  John 


Weston,  Henry  G.,  D.D.,  LL.D. 
Weston,  S.  Burnes 
Whitman,  B.  L.,  D.D.,  LL.D. 
Whitson,  Miss  Mary  H. 
Wilbur,  Rev.  J.  Milnor 
Willard,  J.  Monroe 
Williams,  Rev.  M.  H.,  Ph.D. 
Williams,  Talcott,  LL.D. 
Wing,  Asa  S. 
Wood,  John  J. 
Woodruff,  Clinton  Rogers 
Worcester,  Elwood,  D.D. 
Worcester,  Rev.  William  L. 
Yates,  Rev.  W.  N. 


THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION 


ARTICLE  I — NAME 

This  Association  shall  be  entitled  "The  Religious  Education  Association." 

ARTICLE  II — PURPOSE 

The  purpose  of  this  Association  shall  be  to  promote  religious  and  moral 
education . 

ARTICLE  III — DEPARTMENTS 

Section  i.  The  Association  shall  conduct  its  work  under  several  depart- 
ments as  follows:  (i)  The  Council  of  Religious  Education;  (2)  Universities  and 
Colleges;  (3)  Theological  Seminaries;  (4)  Churches  and  Pastors;  (5)  Sunday 
Schools;  (6)  Secondary  Public  Schools;  (7)  Elementary  Public  Schools;  (8) 
Private  Schools;  (9)  Teacher  Training;  (10)  Christian  Associations;  (11)  Young 
People's  Societies;  (12)  The  Home;  (13)  Libraries;  (14)  The  Press;  (15) 
Correspondence  Instruction;  (16)  Summer  Assemblies;  (17)  ReHgious  Art 
and  Music. 

Sec.  2.  Other  departments  may  be  organized  on  the  approval  of  the 
Executive  Board  hereinafter  provided. 

Sec.  3  Members  may  belong  to  such  department  or  departments  as  they 
may  select,  except  in  the  case  of  the  Council  of  Religious  Education  as  pro- 
vided for  in  Sec.  4. 

Sec.  4.  The  Council  of  Religious  Education  shall  consist  of  sixty  mem- 
bers, who  shall  be  active  members  of  the  Association.  The  original  member- 
ship shall  be  selected  by  the  Executive  Board  of  the  Association,  ten  for  one 
year,  ten  for  two  years,  ten  for  three  years,  ten  for  four  years,  ten  for  five  years, 
ten  for  six  years. 

Vacancies  in  the  Council  shall  be  filled,  in  alternation,  one-half  by  the 
Council  itself,  the  other  half  by  the  Board  of  Directors  hereinafter  provided. 
The  absence  of  a  member  from  two  consecutive  annual  meetings  of  the  Council 
shall  be  equivalent  to  resignation  of  membership,  and  a  new  member  shall  be 
elected  for  the  unexpired  term. 

There  shall  be  a  regular  annual  meeting  of  the  Council,  in  connection 
with  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Association.  The  regular  election  of  members 
of  the  Council  shall  take  place  at  this  meeting.  If  the  Board  of  Directors 
shall  for  any  reason  fail  to  elect  its  quota  of  members  annually,  such  vacancy 
or  vacancies  shall  be  filled  by  the  Council  itself. 

The  Council  shall  elect  its  own  officers  and  adopt  its  own  by-laws,  provided 
that  these  shall  not  be  inconsistent  with  the  Constitution  of  the  Association. 

The  Council  shall  have  for  its  object  to  reach  and  to  disseminate  correct 
thinking  on  all  general  subjects  relating  to  religious  and  moral  education. 

531 


532  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

Also,  in  co-operation  with  the  other  departments  of  the  Association,  it  shall 
initiate,  conduct,  and  guide  the  thorough  investigation  and  consideration  of 
important  educational  questions  within  the  scope  of  the  Association.  On  the 
basis  of  its  investigations  and  considerations  the  Council  shall  make  to  the 
Association,  or  to  the  Board  of  Directors,  such  recommendations  as  it  deems 
expedient  relating  to  the  work  of  the  Association. 

There  shall  be  appointed  annually  some  person  to  submit,  at  the  next 
annual  meeting,  a  report  on  the  progress  of  religious  and  moral  education  dur- 
ing the  year;  this  person  need  not  be  selected  from  the  members  of  the  Council. 

ARTICLE  IV — MEMBERSHIP 

Section  i.  There  shall  be  three  classes  of  members:  Active  (individual 
and  institutional),  Associate,  and  Corresponding. 

Sec.  2.  Active  Members  shall  be  (i)  teachers,  pastors,  and  any  persons 
otherwise  engaged  in  the  work  of  religious  and  moral  education  as  represented 
by  the  seventeen  departments  named  in  Art.  Ill;  (2)  institutions  and  organiza- 
tions thus  engaged. 

Sec.  3.  Associate  Members  shall  be  persons  who  are  not  directly  engaged 
in  the  work  of  religious  and  moral  education,  but  who  desire  to  promote  such 
work. 

Sec.  4.  The  Corresponding  Members  shall  be  persons  not  resident  in 
America  who  may  be  elected  to  such  membership  by  the  Board  of  Directors. 
The  number  of  Corresponding  Members  shall  at  no  time  exceed  fifty. 

Sec.  5.  The  fees  of  membership  shall  be  as  follows:  Active  and  Associate 
Members  shall  each  pay  an  enrolment  fee  of  One  Dollar,  and  an  annual  fee 
of  Two  Dollars.  Corresponding  Members  shall  pay  no  fees.  The  annual 
fee  shall  be  payable  on  or  before  the  holding  of  the  Annual  Convention.  Active 
Members  who  have  paid  into  the  Association  the  amount  of  Fifty  Dollars  shall 
be  designated  Life  Members. 

Sec.  6.  Active  and  Associate  Members  may  withdraw  from  membership 
by  giving  written  notice  to  the  Secretary  before  January  i.  Resumption  of 
membership  will  be  possible  on  payment  of  the  enrolment  fee  and  the  annual 
fee  for  the  current  year. 

Sec.  7.  All  members  of  the  Association  whose  fees  are  paid  shall  receive 
the  volume  of  Proceedings  of  the  Annual  Convention. 

Sec.  8.  All  members  of  the  Association  shall  be  elected  by  the  Board  of 
Directors. 

Sec.  9.  Active  Members  only,  whose  fees  are  paid,  shall  have  the  right  to 
vote  and  to  hold  office  in  the  Association  and  its  departments. 

ARTICLE  V — OFFICERS 

Section  i.  The  officers  of  the  Association  shall  be  as  follows:  President, 
sixteen  Vice-Presidents,  General  Secretary,  Editorial  Secretary,  Recording 
Secretary,  Financial  Secretary,  Treasurer,  a  Board  of  Directors,  and  an  Execu- 
tive Board. 


THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION  533 

Sec.  2.  The  President,  and  Vice-Presidents,  shall  be  chosen  by  ballot  on  a 
majority  vote  of  the  Association  at  its  annual  meeting,  and  shall  hold  office 
for  one  year,  or  until  their  successors  are  chosen. 

Sec.  3.  The  President  shall  preside  at  the  meetings  of  the  Association, 
and  of  the  Board  of  Directors,  and  shall  perform  the  duties  usually  devolving 
upon  a  presiding  officer.  In  his  absence  the  first  Vice-President  in  order  who 
is  present  shall  preside,  and  in  the  absence  of  all  Vice-Presidents,  a  pro-tempore 
chairman  shall  be  appointed  on  nomination,  the  Recording  Secretary  putting 
the  question. 

Sec.  4.  The  Secretaries  shall  be  elected  by  the  Executive  Board,  which 
shall  fix  their  compensation  and  their  term  of  office.  The  Recording  Secretary 
of  the  Association  shall  also  be  the  Recording  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Direct- 
ors and  of  the  Executive  Board. 

The  Recording  Secretary  shall  keep  a  full  and  accurate  report  of  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  general  meetings  of  the  Association,  and  of  all  meetings  of  the 
Board  of  Directors. 

Sec.  5.  The  Treasurer  shall  be  elected  by  the  Executive  Board.  He 
shall  receive,  and  hold,  invest,  or  expend,  under  the  direction  of  this  Board, 
all  money  paid  to  the  Association ;  shall  keep  an  exact  account  of  receipts  and 
expenditures,  with  vouchers  for  the  latter;  shall  render  the  accounts  for  the 
fiscal  year,  ending  January  31,  to  the  Executive  Board,  and  when  these  are 
approved  by  the  Executive  Board,  shall  report  the  same  to  the  Board  of  Direct- 
ors. The  Treasurer  shall  give  such  bond  for  the  faithful  discharge  of  his  duties 
as  may  be  required  by  the  Executive  Board. 

Sec.  6.  The  Board  of  Directors  shall  consist  of  one  member  from  each 
state,  territory,  district,  or  province,  having  a  membership  of  twenty-five  or 
more  in  the  Association,  together  with  twenty  members  chosen  at  large,  to  be 
elected  by  ballot  on  a  majority  vote  of  the  Association  at  the  Annual  Convention. 
These  members  of  this  Board  shall  serve  for  one  year,  or  until  their  successors 
are  chosen.  In  addition,  the  President,  First  Vice-President,  Secretaries, 
Treasurer,  and  the  members  of  the  Executive  Board,  shall  be  members  of  the 
Board  of  Directors.  In  1903  one  member  shall  be  elected  by  the  Association 
for  each  state,  territory,  district,  or  province,  represented  in  the  list  of  signers 
to  the  Call  for  the  Convention. 

Each  President  of  the  Association  shall  at  the  close  of  his  term  of  ofl&ce 
become  a  Director  for  life. 

The  Board  of  Directors  shall  have  power  to  fill  all  vacancies  in  their  own 
body  and  in  the  several  departments  of  the  Association;  shall  have  in  charge 
the  general  interests  of  the  Association,  excepting  those  herein  intrusted  to 
the  Executive  Board;  and  shall  make  all  necessary  arrangements  for  the  meet- 
ings of  the  Association. 

Sec.  7.  The  Executive  Board  shall  consist  of  twenty-one  members  elected 
by  the  Board  of  Directors,  to  hold  office  for  seven  years.  In  1903  the  Execu- 
tive Board  shall  be  elected  by  the  Association,  and  at  the  first  meeting  of  the 


534  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

Board  the  term  of  service  of  each  member  shall  be  determined  by  lot,  three  for 
one  year,  three  for  two  years,  three  for  three  years,  three  for  four  years,  three  for 
five  years,  three  for  sLx  years,  and  three  for  seven  years.  The  President,  First 
Vice-President,  Secretaries,  and  Treasurer  shall  be  ex-officio  members  of  the 
Executive  Board.     This  Board  shall  elect  its  own  chairman. 

This  Board  shall  be  the  corporate 'body  of  the  Association,  and  (i)  shall 
provide  for  the  safekeeping  and  expenditure  of  all  funds  accruing  to  the  Asso- 
ciation; (2)  shall  carry  into  effect  the  actions  of  the  Association  and  of  the 
various  departments;  (3)  shall  publish  the  annual  report,  the  reports  of  depart- 
ments and  of  special  committees,  and  such  other  material  as  shall  further  the 
purpose  of  the  Association;  (4)  shall  exercise  the  functions  of  the  Board  of 
Directors  during  the  interval  of  its  meetings;  (5)  shall  fix  its  quorum  at  not 
less  than  seven  members. 

This  Board  shall  make  an  annual  report  of  its  vi^ork  during  the  year  to  the 
Board  of  Directors. 

This  Board,  with  the  approval  of  the  Board  of  Directors,  may  appoint 
from  time  to  time  such  special  secretaries  for  the  conduct  of  its  work  as  shall  be 
deemed  advisable.  These  secretaries  shall  be  ex-officio  members  of  the  Execu- 
tive Board. 

Sec.  8.  Each  of  the  seventeen  departments  under  the  Association  shall 
be  organized  with  a  President,  a  Recording  Secretary,  and  an  Executive 
Secretary.  The  President  shall  preside  at  the  meetings  of  the  department, 
and  shall  perform  the  other  duties  of  a  presiding  officer.  The  Recording 
Secretary  shall  keep  a  record  of  the  proceedings  of  the  meetings  of  the  depart- 
ment, and  a  list  of  the  members  of  the  department.  The  President,  the 
Secretaries,  and  not  less  than  three  nor  more  than  seven  members  of  the  depart- 
ment, shall  constitute  the  Executive  Committee  for  the  department.  The 
Executive  Secretary  shall  be  appointed  by  the  Executive  Board,  and  shall 
hold  ofl&ce  continuously,  subject  to  the  action  of  the  Board.  His  duty  shall  be 
to  keep  the  machinery  of  the  department  in  motion.  The  President,  the  Record- 
ing Secretary,  and  the  remaining  members  of  the  Executive  Committee  shall 
be  elected  by  ballot  on  a  majority  vote  of  the  members  of  the  department 
present  and  voting  at  a  meeting  held  at  the  time  of  the  annual  convention, 
and  they  shall  hold  office  for  one  year,  or  until  their  successors  are  chosen. 
The  action  of  these  departments  shall  be  recognized  as  the  official  action  of  the 
Association  only  when  approved  by  the  Board  of  Directors. 

In  the  year  1903  the  officers  of  each  department  shall  be  appointed  by  the 
Executive  Board. 

ARTICLE  VI — MEETINGS 

Section  i.  The  annual  meeting  of  the  Association  shall  be  held  at  such 
time  and  place  as  shall  be  determined  by  the  Board  of  Directors. 

Sec.  2.  Special  meetings  of  the  Association  may  be  called  by  the  President 
at  the  request  of  five  members  of  the  Board  of  Directors. 

Sec.  3.   Any  department  of  the  Association  may  hold  a  special  meeting 


THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION  535 

of  the  department  at  such  time  and  place  as  by  its  own  regulations  it  shall 
appoint. 

Sec.  4.  The  Board  of  Directors  shall  hold  its  regular  meetings  at  the 
place,  and  not  less  than  two  hours  before  the  time,  of  the  assembling  of  the 
Association.  Special  meetings  of  the  Board  may  be  held  at  such  other  times 
and  places  as  the  Board,  or  the  President,  shall  determine. 

Each  new  Board  shall  organize  at  the  session  of  its  election. 

ARTICLE  VII — AMENDMENTS 

This  Constitution  may  be  altered  or  amended  at  a  regular  meeting  of  the 
Association  by  the  unanimous  vote  of  the  members  present,  or  by  a  two-thirds 
vote  of  the  members  present,  provided  that  the  alteration  or  amendment  has 
been  substantially  proposed  in  writing  at  a  previous  meeting. 

ARTICLE  VIII— BY-LAWS 

By-laws,  not  inconsistent  with  this  Constitution,  which  have  been  approved 
by  the  Board  of  Directors,  may  be  adopted  at  any  regular  meeting,  on  a  two- 
thirds  vote  of  the  members  of  the  Association  present. 


THE  OFFICERS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION 
GENERAL  OFFICERS 
president 
Hall,  Charles  Cuthbert,  D.D. 

President  Union  Theological  Seminary,  New  York  dty. 
VICE-PRESIDENTS 

Peabody,  Francis  G.,  D.D. 

Dean  Harvard  Divinity  School,  Cambridge,  Mass. 

Brown,  Charles  R.,  Rev. 

Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  Oakland,  Calif. 

Brumbaugh,  Martin  G.,  Ph.D.,  LL.D. 

Professor  University  of  Pennsylvania,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Capen,  Samuel  B.,  LL.D. 

President  American  Board  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions,  Boston,  Mass. 

Coulter,  John  M.,  Ph.D. 

Professor  University  of  Chicago,  Chicago,  111. 

Cross,  George,  Ph.D. 

Professor  McMaster  University,  Toronto,  Can. 

Dike,  Samuel  W.,  Rev.,  LL.D. 

Secretary  National  League  for  the  Protection  of  the  Family,  Aubiundale,  Mass. 

Evans,  Mary,  Litt.D. 

President  Lake  Erie  College,  Painesville,  O. 

Gilbert,  Levi,  D.D. 

Editor  "Western  Christian  Advocate,"  Cincinnati,  O. 

Hazard,  Caroline,  A.M.,  Litt.D. 

President  Wellesley  College,  Wellesley,  Mass. 

Jesse,  Richard  H.,  LL.D. 

President  University  of  Missouri,  Columbia,  Mo. 

Lord,  Rivington  D.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

President  General  Conference  Free  Baptists,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

McKamy,  John  A. 

Editor  Sunday-School  Publications,  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church,  and  Presi- 
dent International  Sunday  School  Editorial  Association,  Nashville,  Tenn. 

Shurtleff,  Glen  K. 

General  Secretary  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  Cleveland,  O. 

Mackay-Smith,  Alexander,  D.D. 

Bishop  Coadjutor  Diocese  of  Pennsylvania,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Webb,  William  R. 

Principal  Webb  School,  Bellbuckle,  Tenn. 

CHAIRMAN  OF  THE  EXECUTIVE  BOARD 

Harper,  William  Rainey,  Ph.D.,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

President  University  of  Chicago,  Chicago,  111. 

vice-chairman  of  the  executive  board 
Messer,  Loring  Wilbur 

General  Secretary  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  Chicago,  Dl. 

general  secretary 
Landrith,  Ira,  LL.D. 

153  LaSalle  St.,  Chicago,  111. 


THE  OFFICERS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION  537 

EDITORIAL  SECRETARY 

VoTAW,  Clyde  Weber.  Ph.D. 

Professor  University  of  Chicago,  Chicago,  111. 

recording  secretary 
Coe,  George  Albert,  Ph.D. 

Professor  Northwestern  University,  Evanston,  111. 

treasurer 
Eckels,  James  Herron 

President  Commercial  National  Bank  .  Chicago,  Ul. 
BOARD  OF  DIRECTORS 
Director  for  Life 

Sanders,  Frank  Knight,  Ph.D.,  D.D. 

Dean  Yale  Divinity  School,  New  Haven,  Conn. 
Directors  at  Large 

Best,  Nolan  R.  „  ^, .        „, 

Associate  Editor  "The  Interior,    Chicago,  111. 

BOYNTON,  Nehemah,  Rev.,  D.D. 

Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  Detroit,  Mich. 

Curtis,  Edward  L.,  Ph.D.,  D.D. 

Professor  Yale  Divinity  School,  New  Haven,  Conn. 

Eliot,  Samuel  A.,  D.D. 

President  Unitarian  Association,  Boston,  Mass. 

Falconer,  Robert  A.,  Litt.D.,  LL.D. 

Professor  Presbyterian  College,  Hahfax,  N.  S. 

Harlan,  Richard  D.,  D.D. 

President  Lake  Forest  College,  Lake  Forest,  111. 

Harrower,  Pascal,  Rev.  ^,.     ^  r  u 

Chairman  Sunday  School  Commission  Diocese  of  New  York,  Rector  Church  of  the 
Ascension,  West  New  Brighton,  N.  Y. 

Hinds,  J.  I.  D.,  Ph.D. 

Professor  University  of  Nashville,  Nashville,  Tenn. 

Hughes,  Richard  Cecil,  D.D. 

President  Ripon  College,  Ripon,  Wis. 

Kelly,  Robert  L.,  Ph.M. 

President  Earlham  College,  Richmond,  Ind. 

McDowell,  William  Fraser,  Ph.D.,  S.T.D. 

Bishop  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  57  Washington  St.,  Chicago,  111. 

McFadyen,  John  E.,  A.M. 

Professor  Knox  College,  Toronto,  Can. 

Miller,  Walter 

Professor  Tulane  University,  New  Orleans,  La. 

Mitchell,  Samuel  C,  Ph.D. 

Professor  Richmond  College,  Richmond,  Va. 

PmLPUTT,  Allan  B.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

Pastor  Central  ChriLStian  Church,  IndianapoHs,  Ind. 

Salisbury,  Albert,  Ph.D. 

President  State  Normal  School,  \Miitewater,  Wis. 

Snedeker,  Charles  H.,  Rev. 

Dean  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  Cincinnati,  O. 

Stimson,  Henry  A.,  Rev.,  D.D.  .     ,.   ,    . 

Pa=tor  Manhattan  Congregational  Church,  New  York  city. 

Tomkins,  Floyd  W.,  Rev.,  D.D.  ..,  . ,  u-    « 

Rector  Holy  Trinity  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Tucker,  Willi.nm  J.,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

President  Dartmouth  College,  Hanover,  N.  H. 


538 


THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 


State  Directors 

Alderman,  Edwin  A.,  D.C.L.,  LL.D.'  Louisiana 

President  Tulane  University,  New  Orleans,  La. 

Anthony,  Alfred  W.,  D.D.  Maine 

Professor  Cobb  Divinity  School,  Lewiston,  Me. 

Bailey,  Josiah  W.  North  Carolina 

Editor  "Biblical  Recorder,"  Raleigh,  No.  Car. 

Bashford,  J.  W.,  Ph.D.  Ohio 

Bishop  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Delavpare,  O. 

Beard,  Gerald  H.,  Rev.,  Ph.D.  Vermont 

Pastor  College  St.  Congregational  Church,  Burlington,  Vt. 

Bitting,  William  C,  Rev.,  D.D.  New  York 

Pastor  Mt.  Morris  Baptist  Church,  Nevf  York.  city. 

Curtiss,  Samuel  I.,  Ph.D.,  D.D.  Illinois 

Professor  Chicago  Theological  Seminary,  Chicago,  111. 

Donald,  E.  Winchester,  Rev.,  D.D.,  LL.D.*  Massachusetts 

Rector  Trinity  Church,  Boston,  Mass. 

Elliott,  George,  Rev.,  D.D.  Michigan 

Pastor  Central  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Detroit,  Mich. 

Fairbanks,  Arthur,  Ph.D.  Iowa 

Professor  State  University  of  Iowa,  Iowa  City,   la. 

Faunce,  William  H.  P.,  D.D.  Rhode  Island 

President  Brovra  University,  Providence,  R.  I. 

Fulton,  Robert  B.,  A.M.,  LL.D.  Mississippi 

Chancellor  University  of  Mississippi,  University,  Miss. 

Garrison,  James  H.,  EL.D.  Missouri 

Editor  "Christian  Evangehst,"  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

Grammer,  Carl  E.,  Rev.,  S.T.D.  Virginia 

Rector  Christ  Church,  Norfolk,  Va. 

Hart,  Walter  T.  Manitoba 

General  Secretary  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  Winnipeg,  Man. 

Heustis,  Charles  H.,  Rev.,  A.M.  Alberta 

Pastor  Methodist  Church,  Edmonton,  Alb. 

Hill,  Edward  Munson,  D.D.  Quebec 

Principal  Congregational  College  of  Canada,  Montreal,  Can. 

Hill,  Edgar  P.,  Rev. 

Pastor  First  Presbyterian  Church,  Portland,  Ore. 


Holmes,  Jesse  H.,  Ph.D. 

Professor  Swarthmore  College,  Swarthmore.  Pa. 

Horne,  Herman  H.,  Ph.D. 

Professor  Dartmouth  College,  Hanover,  N.  H. 

Jordan,  W.  G.,  D.D. 

Professor  Queen's  University,  Kingston,  Ont. 

Kane,  William  P.,  D.D. 

President  Wabash  College.  Crawsfordsville,  Ind. 

Maclachlan,  H.  D.  C,  Rev. 

Pastor  Christian  Church,  Shelbyville,  Ky. 

McFarland,  Henry  B.  F. 


Oregon 
Pennsylvania 
New  Hampshire 
Ontario 
Indiana 
Kentucky 
District  of  Columbia 


President  Board  of  Commissioners,  District  of  Columbia,  Washington,  D.  C. 

McLean,  John  K.,  D.D.  California 

President  Theological  Seminary,  Berkeley,  Calif. 

Murray,  Walter  C,  A.M  Nova  Scotia 

Professor  Dalhousie  University,  Halifax,  N.  S. 

Nicholson,  Thomas,  D.D.  South  Dakota 

President  University  of  South  Dakota,  Vermilion,  So.  Dak. 

Penrose,  Stephen  B.  L.  Washington 

President  Whitman  College,  Walla  Walla,  Wash. 
'  Now  president  of  the  University  of  Virginia,  Charlottesville,  Va.  '  Deceased. 


THE  OFFICERS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION  539 

Plantz,  Samuel,  Ph.D.,  D.D.  Wisconsin 

President  Lawrence  University,  Appleton,  Wis. 

Potter,  Rockwell  H.,  Rev.  Connecticut 

Pastor  First  Church  of  Christ,  Hartford,  Conn. 

PuRiNTON,  Daniel  B.,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.  West  Virginia 

President  University  of  West  Virginia,  Morgantown,  W.  Va. 

Sallmon,  William  H.,  A.M.  Minnesota 

President  Carleton  College,  Northfield,  Minn. 

Slocum,  William  F.,  LL.D.  ^  ,  Colorado 

President  Colorado  College,  Colorado  Springs,  Colo. 

Smith,  J-  Frank,  Rev.  Texas 

Pastor  First  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church,  Dallas,  Tex. 

Stickney,  Edwin  H.  ,  ^^orth  Dakota 

State  Superintendent  Congregational  Sunday  School  and  Publishing  Society, 
Fargo,  No.  Dak. 

Strong,  Frank,  Ph.D.  Kansas 

President  University  of  Kansas,  LawTence,  Kans. 

Thomas,  A.  J.  S.  South  Carolina 

Editor  "Baptist  Courier,"  Greenville,  So.  Car. 

TuTTLE,  John  E.,  Rev.,  D.D.  Nebraska 

Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  Lincoln,  Neb. 

Vandyke,  Henry,  D.D.,  LL.D.  New  Jersey 

Professor  Princeton  University,  Princeton,  N.  J. 

VanMeter,  J.  B.  Maryland 

Dean  Woman's  College,  Baltimore,  Md. 

Wiggins,  B.  L.  ^  Tennessee 

Vice-Chancellor  University  of  the  South,  Sewanee,  Tenn. 
Executive  Board 

The  President,  First  Vice-President,  General  Secretary,  Editorial  Secretary, 
Recording  Secretan^  and  Treasurer  of  the  Association,  ex  officio. 

Bmley,  Edward  P. 

2400  South  Park  Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 

Bryan,  William  Lowe,  Ph.D. 

President  Indiana  University,  Bloomington,  Ind. 

CoE,  George  A.,  Ph.D. 

Professor  Northwestern  University,  Evanston,  111. 

Crandall,  Lathan  a..  Rev.,  D.D. 

Pastor  Trinity  Baptist  Church,  Minneapohs,  Minn. 

Deforest,  Heman  P.,  Rev.,  D.D^  -     ,  ^^     u  t.  .  •.  at-  >, 

Pastor  Woodward  Avenue  Congregational  Church,  Detroit,  Mich. 

Dickerson,  J.  Spencer 

Editor  "The  Standard,"  Chicago,  111. 

GuNSAULUS,  Frank  W.,  Rev.,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

President  .\rmour  Institute  of  Technology,  Pastor  Central  Church,  Chicago,  ill. 

Hall,  Charles  Cuthbert,  D.D. 

President  Union  Theological  Seminary-  New  York  city. 

Harper,  William  R.,  Ph.D.,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

President  University  of  Chicago,  Chicago,  111. 

Her\t:y,  Walter  L.,  Ph.D. 

Examiner  Board  of  Education,  New  York  city. 

Holt,  Charles  S. 

Attorney  and  Counselor-at-Law,  Chicago,  111. 

Hutchinson,  Charles  L. 

Vice-President  Com  Exchange  National  Bank,  Chicago,  111. 

King,  Henry  Churchill,  D.D. 

President  OberUn  College,  OberUn,  O. 


540  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

KiRKLAND,  James  H.,  Ph.D.,  LL.D. 

Chancellor  Vanderbilt  University,  Nashville,  Tenn. 

Mackenzie,  William  Douglas,  D.D. 

President  Hartford  Theological  Seminary,  Hartford,  Conn. 

Merrill,  William  P.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

Pastor  Sixth  Presbyterian  Church,  Chicago,  111. 

Messer,  Loring  Wilbur 

General  Secretary  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  Chicago,  111. 

Robinson,  George  L.,  Ph.D. 

Professor  McCormick  Theological  Seminary,  Chicago,  111. 

Sanders,  Frank  Knight,  Ph.D.,  D.D. 

Dean  Yale  Divinity  School,  New  Haven,  Conn. 

Shaw,  William 

Treasurer  United  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor,  Boston,  Mass. 

Willett,  Herbert  L.,  Ph.D. 

Professor  University  of  Chicago,  Chicago,  111. 


DEPARTMENT  OFFICERS 
/.   THE  COUNCIL  OF  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION 

PRESIDENT 

Sanders,  Frank  K.,  Ph.D.,  D.D. 

Dean  Yale  Divinity  School,  New  Haven,  Conn. 
RECORDING  SECRETARY 

FoRBUSH,  William  B.,  Rev.,  Ph.D. 

Pastor  Winthrop  Congregational  Church,  Boston,  Mass. 
EXECUTIVE  SECRETARY 

CoE,  George  A.,  Ph.D. 

Professor  Northwestern  University,  Evanston,  111. 


[The  additional  members  of  the  Executive  Committee  have  not  yet  been  elected.     A  complete 
list  of  the  members  of  the  Council  is  given  below,  pp.  548-49.] 


//.    UNIVERSITIES  AND  COLLEGES 

PRESIDENT 

Hyde,  William  DeWitt,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

President  Bowdoin  College,  Brunswick,  Me. 

RECORDING  SECRETARY 

MacLean,  George  E.,  Ph.D.,  LL.D. 

President  State  University  of  Iowa,  Iowa  City,  la. 
EXECUTIVE  SECRETARY 

Thompson,  William  O.,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

President  Ohio  State  University,  Columbus,  O. 


Alderman,  Edwin  A.,  D.C.L.,  LL.D. 

President  University  of  Virginia,  Charlottesville,  Va. 

BowNE,  Borden  P.,  D.D. 

Professor  Boston  University,  Boston,  Mass. 

Hazard,  Caroline,  A.M.,  Litt.D. 

President  Wellesley  College,  Wellesley,  Mass. 


THE  OFFICERS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION  541 

Jesse,  Richard  H  ,  LL.D. 

President  University  of  Missouri,  Columbia,  Mo. 

King,  William  F.,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

President  Cornell  College,  Mt.  Vernon,  la. 

Peabody,  Francis  G.,  D.D. 

Dean  Harvard  Divinity  School,  Cambridge,  Mass. 


///.   THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARIES 

president 
Zenos,  Andrew  C,  D.D. 

Professor  McCormick  Theological  Seminary,  Chicago,  111. 
RECORDING  SECRETARY 

TiLLETT,  Wilbur  F.,  A.M.,  D.D. 

Dean  Theological  Faculty,  Vanderbilt  University,  Nashville,  Tenn. 
EXECUTIVE  SECRETARY 

Mathews,  Shailer,  A.M.,  D.D. 

Professor  University  of  Chicago,  Chicago,  111. 


Brown,  William  Adams,  Ph.D.,  D.D. 

Professor  Union  Theological  Seminary,  New  York  city. 

Hayes,  Doremus  A.,  Ph.D.,  LL.D. 

Professor  Garrett  Bibhcal  Institute,  Evanston,  111. 

Jacobus,  Melancthon  W.,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

Professor  Hartford  Theological  Seminary,  Hartford,  Conn. 

Nash,  Henry  Sylvester,  D.D. 

Professor  Episcopal  Theological  School,  Cambridge,  Mass. 


IV.   CHURCHES  AND  PASTORS 

PRESIDENT 

BoYNTON,  Nehemiah,  Rev.,  D.D. 

Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  Detroit,  Mich. 
RECORDING  SECRETARY 

Barnes,  Lemuel  C,  Rev.,  D.D. 

Pastor  First  Baptist  Church,  Worcester,  Mass. 
EXECUTIVE  SECRETARY 

Crosser,  John  R.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

Pastor  Kenwood  Evangelical  Church,  Chicago,  111. 


Atwood,  Isaac  M.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

General  Superintendent  Universalist  General  Convention,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

Brown,  Charles  R.,  Rev. 

Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  Oakland,  Calif. 

Bryant,  Stowell  L.,  Rev. 

Pastor  Hyde  Park  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Chicago,  111. 

Cadman,  S.  Parkes,  Rev.,  D.D. 

Pastor  Central  Congregational  Church,  BrookljTi,  N.  Y. 

Hale,  Edward  Everett,  Rev.,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

Chaplain  of  the  United  States  Senate,  Washington,  D.  C. 


542  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

McViCKAR,  William  N.,  D.D.,  S.T.D. 

Bishop  Diocese  of  Rhode  Island,  Providence,  R.  I. 


V.  SUNDAY  SCHOOLS 

PRESIDENT 

Stewart,  George  B.,  D.D.,  LL.D 

President  Auburn  Theological  Seminary,  Auburn,  N.  Y. 

recording  secretary 
Dunning,  Albert  E.,  D.D. 

Editor  "The  CongregationaUst,"  14  Beacon  St.,  Boston,  Mass. 
EXECUTIVE  SECRETARY 

Stuart,  Charles  M.,  A.M.,  D.D. 

Professor  Garrett  Biblical  Institute,  Evanston,  111. 

Bradner,  Lester,  Jr.,  Rev.,  Ph.D. 

Rector  St.  John's  Episcopal  Church,  Providence,  R.  I. 

Burton,  Ernest  DeWitt,  D.D. 

Professor  University  of  Chicago,  Chicago,  111. 

DuBois,  Patterson, 

Westchester,  Pa. 

Harper,  Edward  T.,  Ph.D. 

Professor  Chicago  Theological  Seminary,  Chicago,  111. 

King,  Mrs.  Aubrey  E., 

190 1  Park  Ave.,  Baltimore,  Md. 

Peters,  John  P.,  Rev.,  Ph.D.,  D.D. 

Rector  St.  Michael's  Episcopal  Church,  New  York  city. 

Warren,  Edward  K. 

Superintendent  Congregational  Sunday  School,  Three  Oaks,  Mich. 


VI.  SECONDARY  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 
president 
HuLiNG,  Ray  Greene,  A.M.,  Sc.D. 

Head  Master  English  High  School,  Cambridge,  Mass. 
RECORDING  SECRETARY 

Rynearson  Edward,  A.M. 

Director  of  High  Schools,  Pittsburg,  Pa. 

EXECUTIVE  SECRETARY 

Locke,  George  H.,  A.M. 

Dean   School   of   Education,    University   of   Chicago,   Editor   "School   Review,' 
Chicago,  111. 

Bishop,  J  Remsen,  Ph.D. 

Principal  Walnut  Hills  High  School,  Cincinnati,  O. 

Smiley,  William  H. 

Principal  East  Side  High  School,  Denver,  Colo. 

Smith,  Charles  Alden,  A.M. 

Principal  Central  High  School,  Duluth,  Minn. 


THE  OFFICERS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION  543 

VII.   ELEMENTARY  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

president 
Hervey,  Walter  L.,  Ph.D. 

Examiner  Board  of  Education,  New  York  city. 
RECORDING  SECRETARY 

RowE,  Stewart  H.,  Ph.D.  . .,     „  ,  t    .       -i-  i 

SuperWsing  Principal  Lovell  School  District  of  New  Haven,  and  Lecturer  \ale 
University,  New  Haven,  Conn. 

EXECUTIVE  SECRETARY 

Carr,  John  W.,  A.M. 

Superintendent  of  Schools,  Anderson,  Ind. 

Boone,  Richard  G.,  A.M.,  Ph.D. 

Superintendent  of  Schools,  Cincinnati,  O. 

Hatch,  William  H. 

Superintendent  of  Schools,  Oak  Park,  111. 

Hughes,  J.  L. 

Inspector  of  Schools,  Toronto,  Can. 

Lane,  Albert  G.,  A.M. 

Assistant  Superintendent  of  Schools,  Chicago,  111. 

Nicholson,  Mary  E 

Principal  Normal  School,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 

Thurber,  Charles  H.,  Ph.D. 

Messrs.  Ginn  &  Co.,  29  Beacon  St.,  Boston,  Mass. 

VanSickle,  James  H.,  A.M. 

Superintendent  of  Instruction,  Baltimore,  Md. 


VIII.   PRIVATE  SCHOOLS 

PRESIDENT 

McPherson,  Simon  J.,  D.D. 

Head  Master  Lawrenceville  School,  Lawrenceville,  N.  J. 

recording  secretary 
Carman,  George  Noble, 

Director  Lewis  Institute,  Chicago,  111. 

executive  secretary 
Sloane,  Joseph  C, 

Head  Master  Lake  Forest  School,  Lake  Forest,  111. 

Abercrombie,  D.  W.,  LL.D. 

Principal  Worcester  Academy,  Worcester,  Mass. 

Bliss,  Frederick  L.,  A.M. 

Principal  Detroit  University  School,  Detroit,  Mich. 

Bragdon,  C.  C. 

Principal  Lasell  Seminarys  Auburndale,  Mass. 

Johnson,  Franklin  W.,  A.M. 

Principal  Coburn  Classical  Institute,  Waterville,  Me. 

Webb,  J.  M.,  LL.D. 

Principal  Webb  School,  Bellbuckle,  Tenn. 

Wood,  Walter  M.  ^   .....     ^u-        m 

Superintendent  of  Education,  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  Chicago,  lU. 


544  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

IX.   TEACHER  TRAINING 

president 
Russell,  James  E.,  Ph.D. 

Dean  Teachers  College,  Columbia  University,  New  York  city. 

recording  secretary 
Hodge,  Richard  M.,  D.D- 

Director  Courses  for  Lay  Workers,  Union  Theological  Seminary,  New  York  city. 

executive  secretary 
Hansel,  John  W. 

President  Y.  M.  C.  A.  Institute  and  Training  School,  Chicago,  111. 


Brown,  Marianna  C,  Ph.D. 

35  W.  130  St.,  New  York  city. 

Patten,  Amos  W.,  D.D. 

Professor  Northwestern  University,  Evanston,  111. 

Pease,  George  W. 

Professor  Hartford  School  of  Religious  Pedagogy,  Hartford,  Conn. 

Reeder,  R.  R.,  Ph.D. 

Superintendent  New  York  Orphan  Asylum,  Hastings-on-Hudson,  N.  Y. 

SCHAEFFER,  N.  C,  Ph.D.,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

State  Superintendent  of  Instruction,  546  W.  James  St.,  Lancaster,  Pa. 

St.  John,  Edward  P. 

Superintendent  New  York  State  Sunday  School  Association,  Prattsburgh,  N.  Y. 


X.   CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIATIONS 

president 
See,  Edwin  F. 

General  Secretary  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  502  Fulton  St.,  Brooklyn, 

N.Y. 

RECORDING  SECRETARY 

RosEVEAR,  Henry  E. 

State  Executive  Secretary  Young  Men's  Christian  Assouation,  Louisville,  Ky. 
EXECUTIVE  SECRETARY 

Parker,  William  J. 

Assistant  General  Secretary  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  Chicago,  111. 


BuDD,  George  S. 

State  Secretary  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  Columbus,  O. 

Frost,  Edward  W. 

Member  State  Executive  Committee  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  Attorney 
and  Counselor-at-Law,  Wells  Bldg.,  Milwaukee,  Wis. 

Johnson,  Arthur  S. 

President  Boston  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  Boston,  Mass. 

JuDSON,  Mrs.  Charles  N. 

President  Board  of  Trustees  International  Board  of  Young  Women's  Christian 
Association,  President  Brooklyn  Young  Women's  Christian  Association,  Brooklyn, 
N.  Y. 

Messer,  Mrs.  L.  W. 

Recording  Secretary  American  Committee,  Chicago,  111. 

Murray,  William  D. 

Member  International  Committee  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,,  Plainfield, 
N.J. 

Ross,  J.  Thorburn 

Member  State  Executive  Committee  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  Portland 
Ore. 


THE  OFFICERS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION  545 

XL    YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  SOCIETIES 

PRESIDENT 

FoRBUSH,  William  B.,  Rev.,  Ph.D. 

Pastor  Winthrop  Congregational  Church,  Boston,  Mass. 

recording  secretary 
Wells,  Amos  R. 

Managing  Editor  "Christian  Endeavor  World,"  Boston,  Mass. 

executive  secretary 
Howe,  James  L.,  Ph.D. 

Professor  Washington  and  Lee  University,  Lexington,  Va. 

Calley,  Walter 

General  Secretary  Baptist  Young  People's  Union  of  America,  Chicago,  III. 

Jenkins,  Burris  A.,  A.M.,  D.D. 

President  Kentucky  University,  Lexington.  Ky. 

King,  William  C. 

President  Massachusetts  Sunday  School  Association,  Springfield,  Mass. 

Meeser,  Spenser  B.,  D.D. 

Pastor  Woodward  Avenue  Baptist  Church,  Detroit,  Mich. 

Shaw,  William 

Treasurer  United  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor,  Boston,  Mass. 

Stevenson,  Andrew 

President  Young  Men's  Presbyterian  Union,  Chicago,  111. 

Taylor,  S.  Earl 

Editorial  Staff,  Epworth  League  Bible  Courses,  New  York  city. 


XII.    THE  HOME 

PRESIDENT 

HiLLis,  Newell  Dwight,  Rev.,  D.D. 

Pastor  Plymouth  Congregational  Church,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

recording  secretary 
Hutcheson,  Mary  E. 

Chairman  Committee  on  Church  Education,  Ohio  Congress  of  Mothers,  Columbus. 
Ohio. 

EXECUTIVE  secretary 

McLeish,  Mrs.  Andrew 

Glencoe,  111. 

Crouse,  Mrs.  J.  N. 

Principal  Chicago  Kindergarten  College,  Chicago,  111. 

Duncan,  William  A.,  Ph.D. 

Field  Secretary  Congregational  Sunday  School  and  Publishing  Society,  Syracuse, 
N.  Y. 

Merrill,  George  R.,  D  D.  .         ,.    ^,. 

Superintendent  Congregational  Home  Missionary  Society,  Minneapwlis,  Minn. 

Miller,  Mrs.  Emily  Huntington 

57  Trumbull  St.,  New  Haven,  Coim. 

Strong,  Josiah 

President  American  Institute  of  Social  Service,  New  York  city. 

Taylor,  Graham,  D.D. 

Professor  Chicago  Theological  Seminary ,  Warden  of  Chicago  Commons,  Chicago,  III. 


546  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

XIII.   LIBRARIES 

PRESIDENT 

BowERMAN,  George  P.,  B.L.S. 

Librarian  Public  Library  District  of  Columbia,  Washington,  D.C. 

recording  secretary 
Lindsay,  Mary  B. 

Librarian  Free  Public  library,  Evanston,  III. 

executive  secretary 
Gates,  Herbert  W. 

Librarian  Chicago  Theological  Seminary,  Chicago,  111. 


Brett,  William  H. 

Librarian  PubUc  Library,  Cleveland,  O. 

Canfield,  James  H.,  LL.D. 

Librarian  Columbia  University,  New  York  city. 

Fletcher,  William  I.,  AM. 

Librarian  Amherst  College,  Amherst,  Mass. 

MacClintock,  Mrs.  William  D. 

5629  Lexington  Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 

Mullins,  Edgar  Young,  D.D.  LL.D. 

President  Southern  Baptist  Theological  Seminary,  Louisville,  Ky. 

Rhees,  Rush,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

President  University  of  Rochester,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

Robinson,  Willard  H. 

Pastor  First  Presbyterian  Church,  Englewood,  111. 


XIV.    THE  PRESS 

president 
Bridgman,  Howard  A. 

Managing  Editor  "The  Congregationalist,"  Boston,  Mass. 
RECORDING  SECRETARY 

Young  Jesse  Bowman,  Rev  ,  D.D. 

Pastor  Walnut  Hills  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Cincinnati,  O. 

executive  secretary 
Ellis,  William  T. 

Religious  Editor  "Philadelphia  Press,"  Philadelphia,  Pa. 


Abbott,  Ernest  H. 

Associate  Editor  "The  Outlook,"  New  York  city. 

Best,  Nolan  R. 

Associate  Editor  "The  Interior,"  Chicago,  111. 

Con  ANT,  Thomas  O.,  LL  D. 

Editor  "The  Examiner,"  New  York  city. 

Garrison,  James  H.,  LL.D. 

Editor  "Christian  Evangehst,"  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

McKelway,  a.  J. 

Editor  "Presbyterian  Standard,"  Charlotte,  No.  Car. 


THE  OFFICERS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION  547 

XV.   CORRESPONDENCE  INSTRUCTION 

president 
Alderson,  Victor  C. 

President  Colorado  School  of  Mines,  Golden,  Colo. 

RECORDING  SECRETARY 

Mallory,  HER\rEY  F. 

Secretary  Correspondence-Study  Department,  University  of  Chicago,  Chicago,  111. 

EXECUTIVE  SECRETARY 

CuNiNGGiM,  Jesse  Lee 

Director  Correspondence  School,  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  Vanderbilt 
University,  Nashville,  Tcnn. 


Anthony,  Alfred  W.,  D.D. 

Professor  Cobb  Divinity  School,  Lewiston,  Me. 

Chamberlin,  Georgia  L. 

Executive  Sercetary  American  Institute  of  Sacred  Literature,  Chicago,  111. 

CoLLEDGE,  William  A.,  D  D. 

Dean  American  School  of  Correspondence  at  Armour  Institute  of  Technology 
Chicago,  111. 

Innis,  George  S.,  Ph.D.,  D.D. 

Professor  Hamline  University,  President  College  Section  Minnesota  Educational 
Association,  St.  Paul,  Minn. 

Kimball,  Kate  F. 

Executive  Secretary  Chautauqua  Literary  and  Scientific  Circle,  Chicago,  111. 


XVI.  SUMMER  ASSEMBLIES 

president 
Vincent,  George  E.,  Ph.D. 

Professor  University  of  Chicago,  Principal  of  Chautauqua  Instruction   Chicago,  111 

recording  secretary 
Horswell,  Charles,  Ph.D  ,  D.D. 

Pastor  Union  Church,  Kenilworth,  111. 

EXECUTIVE  SECRETARY 

HuLLEY,  Lincoln,  Ph.D. 

President  John  B.  Stetson  University,  DeLand,  Fla. 


Dabney,  Charles  W.,  Ph  D  ,  LL.D. 

President  University  of  Tennessee,  Knoxville,  Term. 

Falconer,  Robert  A.,  Litt.D.,  LL.D. 

Principal  Presbyterian  College,  Halifax,  N.  S. 

Parks,  Edward  L.,  D.D. 

Professor  Gammon  Theological  Seminary,  So.  Atlanta,  Ga. 

Pilcher,  M.  B. 

Manager  Monleagle  Summer  Assembly,  Nashville,  Tenn. 


XVII.   RELIGIOUS  ART  AND  MUSIC 
president 
Winchester.  Caleb  T.,  L  H.D. 

Professor  Wesleyan  University,  Middletown,  Conn. 


548  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

recording  secretary 
Beard,  Harington 

Beard  Art  and  Stationery  Co.,  624  Nicollet  Ave.,  Minneapolis,  Minn. 

executive  secretary 
Pratt,  Waldo  S.,  Mus.D. 

Professor  Hartford  Theological  Seminary,  Hartford,  Conn. 


Bailey,  Henry  Turner 

Agent  Massachusetts  Board  of  Education,  No.  Scituate,  Mass. 

Cady,  J.  Cleveland 

6  W.  22nd  St.,  New  York  city. 

Farnsworth,  Charles  H. 

Professor  of  Music,  Columbia  University,  New  York  city. 

Gow.  George  C,  Mus.D. 

Professor  Vassar  College,  Poughkeepsie,  N.  Y. 

MacClintock,  William  D. 

Professor  University  of  Chicago.  Chicago,  111. 

Magee,  Harriet  Cecil 

Teacher  State  Normal  School,  Oshkosh,  Wis. 


THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  COUNCIL  OF  RELIGIOUS 
EDUCATION 

Baldwin,  J.  Mark,  Ph.D.,  LL.D. 

Professor  Johns  Hopkins  University,  Baltimore,  Md. 
Blakeslee,  Erastus,  Rev. 

Editor  Bible  Study  Union  lessons,  95  South  St.,  Boston,  Mass. 
Brown,  Elmer  E.,  Ph.D. 

Professor  University  of  California,  Berkeley,  Calif. 
Brown,  Marianna  C,  Ph.D.. 

35  W.  130th  St.,  New  York  city. 

Brumbaugh,  Martin  G.,  Ph.D.,  LL.D. 

Professor  University  of  Pennsylvania,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Burton,  Ernest  D.,  D.D., 

Professor  University  of  Chicago,  Chicago,  111. 

Butler,  Nicholas  Murray,  Ph.D.,  LL.D., 

President  Columbia  University,  New  York  city. 

COE,  George  A.,  Ph.D., 

Professor  Northwestern  University,  Evanston,  III. 

Dawson,  George  E.,  Ph.D. 

Professor  Hartford  School  of   Religious  Pedagogy,  Hartford,  Conn.,  and   Mt. 
Holyoke  College,  South  Hadley,  Mass. 

Dewey,  John,  Ph.D. 

Professor  Columbia  University,  New  York  city. 

DoGGETT,  L.  L.,  Ph.D. 

President  International  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  Training  School, 
Springfield,  Mass. 

DuBois,  Patterson 

Westchester,  Pa. 

Dutton,  Samuel  T. 

Professor  Teachers  College,  Columbia  University,  New  York  city. 

Faunce,  William  H.  P.,  D.D. 

President  Brovra  University.  Providence,  R.  I. 

Forbush,  William  B.,  Rev.,  Ph.D. 

Pastor  Winthrop  Congregational  Church,  Boston,  Mass. 

GuLicK,  Luther  H.,  M.D. 

Director  Physical  Training,  Schools  of  Greater  New  York,  New  York  city. 
Haley,  J.  J.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

Pastor  Seventh  Street  Christian  Church,  Richmond,  Va. 
Hall,  Charles  Cuthbert,  D.D. 

President  Union  Theological  Seminary,  New  York  city. 
Hall,  G.  Stanley,  Ph.D.,  LL.D. 

President  Clark  University  Worcester,  Mass. 
Hammond,  J.  D.,  D.D. 

Secretary  of  Education,  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  Nashville,  Term. 

Harper,  William  R.,  Ph.D.,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

President  University  of  Chicago,  Chicago,  111. 

Harris,  W.  T.,  LL.D. 

United  States  Commissioner  of  Education,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Harrower,  Pascal,  Rev. 

Chairman  Sunday  School  Commission  Diocese  of  New  York,  Rector  Church 
of  the  Ascension,  West  New  Brighton,  N.  Y. 

Henderson,  Charles  R.,  Ph.D.,  D.D. 

Professor  University  of  Chicago,  Chicago,  111. 

Hervey,  Walter  L.,  Ph.D. 

Examiner  Board  of  Education,  New  York  city. 

549 


5SO  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

King,  Henry  C,  D.D. 

President  Oberlin  College,  Oberlin,  Ohio. 
Mathews,  Shailer,  A.M.,  D.D. 

Professor  University  of  Chicago,  Chicago,  III. 

McDowell,  William  F.,  Ph.D.,  S.T.D. 

Bishop  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  57  Washington  St.,  Chicago,  111. 

McMuRRY,  Frank  N.,  Ph.D. 

Professor  Teachers  College,  Columbia  University,  New  York  city. 

Mead,  George  W.,  Rev.,  Ph.D. 

Pastor  First  Presbyterian  Church,  Newport,  R.  I. 

Miller,  Rufus  W.,  D.D. 

Secretary   Sunday   School   Board  of  the   Reformed   Church,  1308  Arch  St. 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Pease,  George  W. 

Professor  Hartford  School  of  ReUgious  Pedagogy,  Hartford,  Conn. 

Peloubet,  F.  N.,  D.D. 

Aubumdale,  Mass. 

Pratt,  Waldo  S.,  Mus.D. 

Professor  Hartford  Theological  Seminary,  Hartford,  Conn. 

Sanders,  Frank  K.,  Ph.D.,  D.D. 

Dean  Yale  Divinity  School,  New  Haven,  Conn. 

See,  Edwin  F. 

General  Secretary  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Spalding,  John  L. 

R.  C.  Bishop  of  Peoria,  Peoria,  111. 

Starbuck,  Edwin  D.,  Ph.D. 

Professor  Earlham  College,  Richmond,  Ind. 

Stewart,  George  B.,  D.D. 

President  Auburn  Theological  Seminary,  Auburn,  N.  Y. 

St.  John,  Edward  P. 

Superintendent  New  York  State  Sunday  School  Association,  Prattsburgh,  N.  Y. 

Swain,  Joseph,  LL.D. 

President  Swarthmore  College,  Swarthmore,  Pa. 

Taylor,  Graham,  D.D. 

Professor   Chicago  Theological   Seminary,   Warden  of  Chicago  Commons, 

Chicago,  111. 
Thwing,  Charles  F.,  D.D.,   LL.D. 

President  Western  Reserve  University,  Cleveland,  Ohio 

TiLLETT,  Wilbur  F.,  A.M.,  D.D. 

Dean  Theological  Faculty,  Vanderbilt  University,  Nashville,  Tenn. 

Tracy,  Frederick,  Ph.D. 

Lectiu-er  Toronto  University,  Toronto,  Can. 

Tyler,  B.  B.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

Pastor  Broadway  Christian  Church,  Denver,  Colo. 

Wells  Amos  R 

Managing  Editor  "Christian  Endeavor  World,"  Tremont  Temple,  Boston, 
Mass. 


THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION 

[The  n.imes  are  arranged  alphabetically  by  states.  The  asterisk  (*)  indicates  attendance  upon 
the  Philadelphia  Convention,  March  2-4,  1904.  The  dagger  (+)  indicates  Life  Members,  the 
double  dagger  (t)  Associate  Members.  The  year  in  which  membership  began  is  indicated  in  con- 
nection with  each  name.] 

ALABAMA 
Brown,  Walter  S.,  Rev. 

1903        Superintendent  of  Missions,  927  N.  13th  St.,  Birmingham,  Ala. 
Clarke,  Almon  T.,  Rev. 

1903        Superintendent  Congregational  Home  Missionary  Society  for  Alabama,  Fort 
Payne,  Ala. 

Harte,  a.  C,  Rev. 

1903        General  Secretary  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  Y.  M.  C.  A.  Bldg., 
Mobile,  Ala. 

Metcalf,  John  M.  P. 

1903        Talladega  College,  Talladega,  Ala. 
Mitchell,  B.  G.,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1903        Pastor  First  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church,  Huntsville,  Ala. 

MuRPEE,  H.  O.,  A.M. 

1903  Assistant  Superintendent  Marion  Mihtary  Institute,  Marion,  Ala. 

Snedecor,  James  G.,  Rev. 

1904  Superintendent  Stillman  Theological  Institute,  Secretary  Colored  Evangeliza- 
tion Society,  Tuscaloosa,  Ala. 

Washington,  Booker  T. 

Principal  Tuskegee  Normal  and  Industrial  Institute,  Tuskegee,  Ala. 

ARIZONA 
Schafer,  F.  H.,  Rev. 

1903        Tucson,  Ariz. 

ARKANSAS 
Hays,  William  B.,  Rev. 

1903        Secretary  Education  and  Presiding  Elder  White  River  Conference  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  South,  Batesville,  Ark. 

Walls,  Polk  W.,  A.M. 

1903  Professor  Shorter  College,  Little  Rock;  211  Church  St.,  Hot  Springs,  Ark. 

institutions 
Hendrix  College 

1904  President,  Rev.  Stonewall  Anderson,  A.  B.,  Conway,  Ark. 

CALIFORNIA 

Allison,  William  Henry,  Rev. 

1903         Pacific  Theological  Seminary,  Berkeley,  Cal. 

Bade,  William  F.,  Ph.D. 

1903        Professor  Pacific  Theological  Seminary,  2223  Atherton  St.,  Berkeley,  Cal. 

Baldwin,  Cyrus  G.,  Rev. 

1903        Congregational  minister,  Palo  Alto,  Cal. 
Boyd,  Thomas,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Pastor  First  Presbyterian  Church,  Fresno,  Cal. 

Brewer,  John  Marks,  B.S. 

1903        Teacher  Wilmerding  School  of  Industrial  Arts,  315  7th  St.,  San  Francisco,  Cal 
Briggs,  Arthur  H.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903         Pastor  Central  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 

Briggs,  Herbert  F.,  Rev.,  S.T.B. 

1903        Pastor  Central  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 

Brown,  Arthur  P.,  Rev. 

1003         Pastor  First  Baptist  Church,  1344  "O  "  St.,  Fresno,  Cal. 


552  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

CALIFORNIA— CoM//wMe(i 

Brown,  Charles  R.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  Oakland,  Cal. 

Brown,  Elmer  E.,  Ph.D. 

Professor  University  of  California,  2344  Telegraph  Ave..  Berkeley,  Cal. 

BucKHAM,  John  W.,  A.B. 

1903        Professor  Pacific  Theological  Seminary,  Berkeley,  Cal. 

Day,  Thomas  F.,  D.D. 

1903        Professor  San  Francisco  Theological  Seminary,  San  Anselmo,  Cal. 
Day,  William  Horace,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1903        Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  Los  Angeles,  Cal. 

Dennett,  Edward  Power,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Pastor  First  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  2259  Central  Ave.,  Alameda,  Cal. 

Fisher,  Charles  R. 

1903        General  Secretary  Northern  California  Sunday  School  Association,  710  i8th 
St.,  Oakland,  Cal. 

Kling,  W.  a. 

1903         General  Secretary  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  Oakland,  Cal. 

Leavitt,  Bradford,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  First  Unitarian  (Starr  King)  Church,  3216  Jackson  St.,  San  Francisco 
Cal. 

Lloyd,  Louis  D.,  Rev.. 

1903        Pastor  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Highgrove,  Cal. 
LovEjOY,  Irving  Roscoe,  Rev.,  A.M.,  S.T.B., 

1903        Pastor  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  328  E.  Lindsay  St.,  Stockton,  Cal. 

Macaulay,  Joseph  P.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Auburn,  Cal. 

Maile,  John  L.,  Rev. 

1903         Superintendent  Congregational  Home  Missions  for  Southern  California,  12 14 
Ingraham  St.,  I.os  Angeles,  Cal. 

McLean,  John  Knox,  D.D. 

1903         President  Pacific  Theological  Seminary,  Berkeley,  Cal. 

MiLLiKEN,  Charles  D.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Union  Congregational  Church,  Cupertino..  Cal. 

Mowbray,  Henry  B.,  Rev. 

1903        Assistant    Pastor    First    Congregational    Church,    Superintendent    of    Sunday 
School  cor.  1 2th  and  Clay  Sts.,  Oakland,  Cal. 

Nash,  Charles  S.,  A.M.,  D.D. 

1903  Professor  Pacific  Theological  Seminary,  Berkeley,  Cal. 

Palmer,  Burton  M.,  Rev. 

1904  Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Fruitvale,  Cal. 

Parsons,  Edward  Lambe,  Rev.,  A.B. 

1904         Rector  St.  Mark's  Church,  Chairman  Sunday  School  Commission  Diocese  of 
California,  2413  Bancroft  Way,  Berkeley,  Cal. 

Scudder,  William  H.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Park  Congregational  Church,  1600  Fairview  St.,  So.  Berkeley,  Cal. 

Sibley,  Josiah,  Rev. 

1903  Pastor  First  Presbyterian  Church,  Azusa,  Cal. 

Smither,  a.  C,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1904  Pastor  First  Christian  Church,  1500  W.  Adams  St.,  Los  Angeles,  Cal. 

VanKirk,  Hiram,  Rev.,  Ph.D. 

1903         Dean  Berkeley  Bible  Seminary,  Berkeley,  Cal. 

White,  Willis  G.,  Rev. 

1903  Pastor  Presbyterian  Church,  Chico,  Cal. 

Zahn,  Edwin  L. 

1904  Santa  Paula,  Cal. 

institutions 
Irving  Institute 

1904        President,  Rev.  E.  B.  Church,  A.M.,  2126  CaUfornia  St.,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 

Pacific  Theological  Seminary 

1904        President,  John  K.  McLean,  D.D.,  Berkeley,  Cal. 


THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION  553 

CALIFORNIA— Continued 
Sunday  School  Commission  of  the  Diocese  of  California 

1Q04        Chairman,  Rev.  E.  L.  Parsons,  731  California  St.,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 

Trinity  Methodist  Episcopal  Sunday  School 

1903        Superintendent,  J.  G.  Sanchez,  2240  Ward  St.,  Berkeley,  Cal. 

COLORADO 
Alderson,  Victor  C, 

1903        President  Colorado  School  of  Mines,  Golden,  Colo. 

Danner,  William  Mason 

1903        General  Secretary  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  Denver,  Colo. 

Eggleston,  Julius  Wooster 

1903  In'^tructor  School  of  Mines,  Golden,  Colo. 
Forward,  DeWitt  Daniel,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1904  Pastor  Mesa  Baptist  Church,  612  Michigan  St.,  Pueblo,  Colo. 

Gammon,  Robert  W.,  Rev. 

1903  Pastor  Pilgrim  Congregational  Church,  406  W.  13th  St.,  Pueblo,  Colo. 

Gove,  Aaron,  LL.D. 

1904  Superintendent  of  Schools,  19th  and  Stout  Sts.,  Denver,  Colo. 

Johnson,  S.  Arthur 

1903        Professor  State  Agricultural  College,  Fort  Collins.  Colo. 

Kimball,  Clarence  O.,  Rev.,  Ph.D. 

1903        Pastor  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  La  Junta,  Colo. 
Patton,  Horace  B.,  Ph.D. 

1903        Professor  Colorado  School  of  Mines,  Golden,  Colo. 

Pinkham,  Henry  W.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Bethany  Baptist  Church,  Denver,  Colo. 
Slocum,  William  F.,  Rev.,  LL.D. 

1903         President  Colorado  College,  Colorado  Springs,  Colo. 

Smiley,  William  H. 

1903        Principal  East  Side  High  School,  2112  Lincoln  Ave.,  Denver,  Colo. 
Tyler,  B.  B.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903         Pastor   South   Broadway   Christian   Church,   Prepident   International  Sunday 
School  Convention,  1035  Downing  Ave.,  Denver,  Colo. 

Webb,  Clarence  E.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Montrose,  Colo. 

Work,  Edgar  A.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903         Pastor  Presbyterian  Church,  1215  N.  Nevada  Ave.,  Colorado  Springs,  Colo. 

CONNECTICUT 
Ackerman,  Arthur  W.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Pastor  Central  Congregational  Church,  268  Main  St.,  Torrington,  Conn. 

Adams,  John  Coleman,  Rev.,  A.M.,  D.D. 

1903  Pastor  Universali.st  Church,  83  Sigourney  St.,  Hartford,  Conn. 

Ashworth,  Robert  A.,  Rev. 

1904  437  Broad  St.,  Meriden,  Conn. 

Bacon,  Benjamin  W.,  Rev.,  D.D.,  Litt.D.  * 

1903        Professor  Yale  Divinity  School,  244  Edwards  St.,  New  Haven,  Conn. 
Bates,  E.  J. 

1903         State   Secretary  Young  Men's  Christian   Association,  150  Temple  St.,  New 
Haven,  Conn. 

Berry,  Louis  F.,  Rev. 

1903         Stamford,  Conn. 

Blnney,  John,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903         Dean  Berkeley  Divinity  School,  Middletown,  Conn. 

Burnham,  Waterman  R. 

1903         Sunday-School  Teacher,  and  Oflficer  Young   Men's    Christian    Association, 
362  Main  St.,  Norwich,  Conn. 

Burt,  Enoch  Hale,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1903        Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Ivoryton,  Conn. 


554  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

CONNECTICUT— Continued 
BusHEE,  George  A.,  Rev. 

1903  Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Madison,  Conn. 
Calhoun,  Newell  M.,  Rev. 

1904  Pastor  Second  Congregational  Church,  Winsted,  Conn. 

Colt,  Luman  C, 

1904        Winsted,  Conn. 

CuMMLNGS,  Mrs.  W.  H. 

1903        Sunday-School  Superintendent,  Plantsville,  Conn. 
Curtis,  Edward  L.,  Rev.,  Ph.D.,  D.D. 

1903        Professor  Yale  Divinity  School,  61  Trumbull  St.,  New  Haven,  Conn. 

Davis,  William  H. 

1903        General  Secretary  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  Bridgeport,  Conn. 

Dawson,  George  E.,  Ph.D.  * 

1903        Professor    Hartford    School   of    Religious    Pedagogy,    038    Farmington   Ave., 
Hartford,  Conn.;  Professor  Mt.  Holyoke  College,  South  Hadley,  Mass. 

Devitt,  Theophilus  S.,  Rev.,  Ph.D.,  D.D. 

1903         Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  Branford,  Conn. 

Elmer,  Franklin  D.,  Rev.  * 

1903        Pastor  First  Baptist  Church,  Winsted,  Conn. 
Friborg,  Emil,  Rev. 

1903  Pastor  Swedish  Baptist  Church,  New  Haven,  Conn. 

Gareield,  John  P.,  Rev.  * 

1904  Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Enfield,  Conn. 

Gerrie,  a.  W.,  Rev.  * 

1904        Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  Ridgefield,  Conn. 

Grant,  John  Hiram,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Center  Congregational  Church,  630  Broad  St.,  Meriden,  Conn. 

Greene,  Frederick  W.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  South  Congregational  Church,  Middletown,  Conn. 

Hall,  William  H. 

1903        Superintendent  PubUc  Schools,  West  Hartford,  Conn. 

Hazen,  Austin,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Thomaston,  Conn. 

Hazen,  Azel  W.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  299  Court  St.,  Middletown,  Conn. 

Hildreth,  Theodore  A.  * 

1903        Hartford  School  of  ReUgious  Pedagogy,  1542  Broad  St.,  Hartford,  Conn. 

Holmes,  William  T.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Watertown,  Conn. 

HoTCHKiss,  Ada  S. 

1903        Primary  Sunday-School  Teacher,  Yale  Station,  New  Haven,  Conn. 

Hyde,  Frederick  S.,  Rev.  * 

1903  Pastor  First  Church  of  Christ  (Congregational),  Groton,  Conn. 

Hyde,  George  F.  * 

1904  Secretary  Boys'  Dept.,  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  Bridgeport,  Conn. 

IvES,  Mrs.  Charles  L. 

1903        66  Trumbull  St.,  New  Haven,  Conn. 
Jacobus,  Melancthon  W.,  D.D.,  LL.D.  * 

1903         Professor  Hartford  Theological  Seminary,  14  Marshall  St.,  Hartford,  Conn. 

Kellogg,  Mrs.  George  A.,  A.B. 

1903         Sunday-School  Teacher  First  Congregational  Church,  Glastonbury,  Conn. 

Kelsey,  Henry  H.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Foiulh  Congregational  Church,  108  Ann  St.,  Hartford,  Conn. 

Kent,  Charles  F.,  Ph.D. 

1903  Professor  Yale  University,  New  Haven,  Conn. 

Kidder,  B.  F.,  Rev..  Ph.D. 

1904  Pastor  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  49  High  St.,  Winsted,  Conn. 

Knight,  Edward  H.,  Rev.  * 

1903        Professor  Hartford  School  of  ReMgious  Pedagogy,  Hartford,  Conn. 

Langdon,  George,  Rev. 

1903        Bible-Class  Teacher,  Plymouth,  Conn. 


THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION  555 

CONNECTICUT— CoM^wMCfi 
Latheop,  William  G.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Congregational  Church,  301  Coram  Ave.,  Shelton,  Conn. 

Leete,  William  White,  D.D.  ^   ,     j  o     xt      « 

1903         Pastor  Dwight  Place  Congregational  Church,  205  Orchard  St.,  New  Haven, 
Conn. 

Lewis,  Everett  E.,  Rev. 

igo3         Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Haddam,  Conn. 

LoTZE,  William  G.  .      .       •   ■  -r      1    c.    m 

1903        General  Secretary  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  152  Temple  bt.,  JNew 
Haven,  Conn. 

LuTZ,  Adam  R.,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1903         Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Oakville,  Conn. 

Mackenzie,  William  Douglas,  D.D.  „    r   ^  o  u    ,   ,  t>  r 

1903  President  Hartford  Theological  Seminary,  President  Hartford  School  of  Reli- 
gious Pedagogy,  Hartford,  Conn. 

Marsh,  Elizabeth  M. 

1904  18  Pratt  St.,  Winsted,  Conn. 

Marsh,  F.  W.  ,  ^ 

1904        Teacher  First  Baptist  Bible  School,  Winsted,  Conn. 
Mathews,  S.  Sherberne,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903  Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Danielson,  Conn. 

Maurer,  Oscar  E. 

1904  Student  Yale  Divinity  School,  New  Haven,  Conn. 

McAllister,  Cloyd  N. 

1904        Instructor  Yale  University,  New  Haven,  Conn. 
Merriam,  Alexander  R.  „     ,    ,  ^ 

1903        Professor  Hartford  Theological  Seminary,  Hartford,  Conn. 

Miller,  Mrs.  Emily  Huntlngton  * 

1903        57  Trumbull  St.,  New  Haven,  Conn. 

Mitchell,  Edwin  Knox,  D.D.  „    ,   j  ^ 

1903         Professor  Hartford  Theological  Seminary,  Hartford,  Conn. 

Montgomery,  George  R.,  Rev.,  Ph.D. 

1903        Pastor  OUvet  Congregational  Church,  Bridgeport,  Conn. 

Mutch,  William  J.,  Rev.,  Ph.D.  .     ,  ^u     v  xt     ti        n  * 

1903        Pastor  Howard  Avenue  Congregational  Church,  New  Haven,  Conn. 

Olmstead,  Edgar  H.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  Granby,  Conn. 

Pease,  George  W.  „  ,.  .      „  j  u   .c  a  n 

1903        Professor  Hartford  School  of  Rehgious  Pedagogy,  Hartford,  Conn. 

Persons  F.  P. 

'     1904        Assistant  Superintendent  First  Baptist  Bible  School,  Winsted,  Conn. 

Porter,  Frank  C,  Ph.D.,  D.D.  „    „     c-    ^t     xr        n 

1903  ProfessorYaleDivinity  School,  266  Bradley  St.,  New  Haven,  Conn. 

Porter,  Lucius  Chapin  .    ^  ,     ,  .t     „ 

1904  Student  Yale  Dmmty  School,  New  Haven,  Conn. 

Potter,  Rockwell  Harmon,  Rev.  c    «   .t   j  r> 

1903        Pastor  First  Church  of  Christ,  142  Washington  St.,  Hartford,  Conn. 

Pratt,  Waldo  S.,  Mus.D.  „    .   j  ^ 

1903         Professor  Hartford  Theological  Seminary,  Hartford,  Conn. 

Ranney,  William  W.,  Rev.  „    ^   j  n 

1903        Pastor  Park  Congregational  Church,  811  Asylum  Ave.,  Hartford,  Conn. 

Rice,  William  N.,  Ph.D.,  LL.D. 

1903  Professor  Wesleyan  University,  Middletown,  Conn. 

Roberts,  H.  B.,  Rev. 

1904  Secretary  Bible  Society,  Wmsted,  Conn. 

Robinson,  Charles  F.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Chnton,  Conn. 

ROWE,  Stuart       -^^p^^-^jl^g  Principal  Lovell  School  District  of  New  Haven,  Lecturer  Yale 
University,  New  Haven,  Conn. 


SS6  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

CONNECTICUT— Continued 
Sanders,  Frank  Knight,   Ph.D.,  D.D.  * 

1903  Dean  Yale  Divinity  School,  235  Lawrence  St.,  New  Haven,  Conn. 

Sanford,  Charles  E.,  M.D. 

1904  235  Vine  St.,  Bridgeport,  Conn. 

Sanford,  Ralph  A. 

1903  Superintendent  First  Baptist  Bible  School,  325  North  Main  St.,  Winsted,  Conn. 

Smith,  Mrs.  Eliza  T.  f 

1904  66  Forest  St.,  Hartford,  Conn. 

Smith,  Erwin  K. 

1904        General  Secretary  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  59  Wheeler  St., Winsted 
Conn. 

Stearns,  William  F.,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1903  Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Norfolk,  Conn. 

Strong,  Frederick  C. 

1904  36  Walnut  St.,  Winsted,  Conn. 

Talmadge,  Elliott  Ford,  Rev. 

1903        General  Secretary  Connecticut  Sunday  School  Association,  55  Rush  St.,  Hart- 
ford, Conn. 

Thayer,  Charles  S.,  Ph.D. 

1903         Librarian  Case  Memorial  Library,  Hartford  Theological  Seminary,  Hartford, 
Conn. 

TiMM,  John  A.,  Rev. 

1903  Pastor  Trinity  Lutheran  Church,  106  York  Square,  New  Haven,  Conn. 
Tweedy,  Henry  Hallam,  Rev. 

1904  Pastor  South  Congregational  Church,  286  West  Ave.,  Bridgeport,  Conn. 

Twichell,  Joseph  H.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Asylum  Hill  Congregational  Church,  125  Woodland  St.,  Hartford,  Conn. 
Walker,  Williston,  Ph.D.,  D.D. 

1903        Professor  Yale  University,  281  Edwards  St.,  New  Haven,  Conn. 

Walkley,  Frances  S. 

1903  Sunday-School  Teacher,  and  Normal  State  Secretary,  159  Elm  St.,  New  Haven, 
Conn. 

Webster,  Lillian  M. 

1904  Bookkeeper,  94  Williams  Ave.,  Winsted,  Conn. 

White,  Charles  E. 

1903         Superintendent  Fir.st  Congregational  Sunday  School,  25  Broad  St.,  Groton, 
Conn. 

Williams,  Samuel  H.  -j-* 

1903        Manufacturer,  Glastonbury,  Conn. 

Wilson,  Edna  E. 

1903         3S  Whalley  Ave.,  New  Haven,  Coim. 

Winchester,  Caleb  T.,  L.H.D.  * 

1903         Professor  Wesleyan  University,  Middletown,  Conn. 

Worcester,  Edward  S.,  Rev. 

1903        Assistant  Pastor  Broadway  Congregational  Church,  149  Broadway,  Norwich, 
Conn. 

York,  Burt  Leon,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1903        Pastor  West   End   Congregational  Church,  600   Colorado  Ave.,  Bridgeport 
Coim. 

institutions 
First  Baptist  Sunday  School 

1903         Superintendent,  Ralph  A.  Sanford,  Winsted,  Conn. 

Hartford  Theological  Seminary 

1903  Librarian,  C.  S.  Thayer,  Ph.D.,  Hartford,  Conn. 

DELAWARE 
Danforth,  Nathan  B. 

1904  1401  Delaware  Ave.,  Wilmington,  Del. 

institutions 
Wilmington  Institute  Free  Library 

1904         Wilmington,  Del. 


THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION  557 

DISTRICT  OF  COLUMBIA 
Amos,  Henry  Cooper 

1903        City  Missionary,  Washington,  D.  C. 

BowERMAN,  George  F.,  A.B.,  B.L.S. 

Librarian  Public  Library,  District  of  Coliimbia,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Craig,  ARxmiR  W.,  B.S. 

1903        Teacher  Armstrong  Manual  Training  High  School,  Stanton  and  Evans  Ave, 
Anacostia,  D.  C. 

Foster,  Mrs.  J.  Ellen 

1903  Assistant  Superintendent  Foundry  Methodist  Episcopal  Sunday  School,  "The 
Portner,"  cor.  U  and  isth  Sts.,  VVashington,  D.  C. 

Johnson,  B.  F. 

1904  Publisher,  945  Pennsylvania  Ave.,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Lamson,  Franklin  S. 

1903         Sunday-School  Teacher,  1941  Cincinnati  St.,  N.  W.,  Washington,  D.  C. 

MacFarland,  Henry  B.  F. 

President  Board  of  Commissioners,  District  of  Columbia,  1816  F  St., Washington, 
D.  C. 

Moorland,  J.  E. 

1903        Secretary    International    Committee    Young  Men's    Christian    Association, 
Colored  Men's  Dept.,  90s  U  St.,  N.  W.,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Pierce,  Lytjan  L. 

1903        General  Secretary  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  1145  New  Hampshire 
Ave.,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Power,  Frederick  D.,  Rev.,  LL.D. 

1903  Pastor  Vermont  Avenue  Christian  Church,  Washington,  D.  C. 

RiDEOUT,  Melvin  B. 

1904  Physical  Director  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Simon,  Abram  * 

1903        Rabbi  Washington  Hebrew  Congregation,  1415  Chapin  St..  Washington,  D.  C. 

institutions 
New  Chttrch  League  of  Young  People's  Societies 

1903         Secretary,  Miss  Frances  Twitchell,  1416  F  St.  N.  W.,  Washington,  D.  C. 

FLORIDA 
HuLLEY,  Lincoln,  Ph.D. 

1903        President  John  B.  Stetson  University,  DeLand,  Fla. 

Norton,  Helen  S.,  A.M. 

1903        Teacher  and  Missionary,  Eustis,  Fla. 

Welch,  Moses  C,  Rev.,  A.M. 
1903        Pomona,  Fla. 

GEORGIA 
Cree,  Harvard  T.,  Rev. 

1903        Augusta,  Ga. 
KiRBYE,  J.  Edward,  Rev. 

1903  President  Atlanta  Theological  Seminary,  141  Nelson  St.,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

Maclean,  Joseph 

1904  Music  Teacher,  Decatur,  Ga. 

Parks,  Edward  L.,  D.D. 

1903        Professor  Gammon  Theological  Seminary,  South  Atlanta,  Ga. 

Sale,  George,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1903        President  Atlanta  Baptist  College,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

Ware,  Edward  T.,  Rev. 

1903  Chaplain  Atlanta  University,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

institutions 
Atlanta  Theological  Seminary 

1904  President,  J.  Edward  Kirbye,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

HAWAII 
Scudder,  Doremus,  D.D.,  M.D. 

1904        Corresponding  Secretary  and  General  Superintendent  Hawaiian  Board  of  Mis- 
sions (Congregational),  Honolulu,  Hawaii. 


SS8  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

IDAHO 
Roots,  Willard  H.,  Rev.,  B.D. 

1903         Pastor  Trinity  Episcopal  Church,  Grangeville,  Idaho 

ILLINOIS 

Abel,  Clarence,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Trinity  Church,  2519  Indiana  Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 
Adams,  Edwin  Augustus,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Pastor  Bethlehem  Congregational  Church  (Bohemian),  864  S.  Ashland  Ave. 
Chicago,  lU. 

Allen,  Mrs.  Anna  Beck,  A.M. 

5829  Jackson  Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 

Allworth,  John,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Godfrey,  111. 

Ames,  Edward  Scribner,  Rev.,  Ph.D. 

1903        Pastor  Hyde  Park  Church  of  the  Disciples,  5520  Madison  Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 

Anderson,  James  H.  * 

1903  Student    Y.    M.    C.    A.  Institute    and    Training    School,    153    LaSalle    St. 
Chicago,  111. 

Atkinson,  P.  C. 

1904  Secretary  Hyde  Park  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  5701  Rosalie  Ct  , 
Chicago,  HI. 

Bailey,  Edward  P. 

1903        2400  South  Park  Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 

Baird,  Lucius  O.,  Rev.  * 

1903        Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  Ottawa,  111. 

Baldwin,  Jesse  A.  t 

1903        Attorney  and  Counselor-at-Law,  341  Pleasant  St.,  Oak  Park,  HI. 
Barnes,  Clifford  W.,  A.M. 

1903        President  lUinois  College,  Jacksonville,  111. 

Bartlett,  Adolphus  C. 

1903        Hibbard,  Spencer,  Bartlett  &  Co.,  2720  Prairie  Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 

Barton,  William  E.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903         Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  228  N.  Oak  Park  Ave.,  Oak  Park,  111. 

Bateson,  Frederick  W.,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1903        Pastor  First  Baptist  Chiu-ch,  410  E.  Madison  St.,  Behidere,  111. 

Beard,  Frederica 

1903        Teacher  of  Pedagogy,  Primary  Superintendent  First  Congregational  Sunday 
School,  733  N.  Kenilworth  Ave.,  Oak  Park,  111. 

Beaton,  David,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Pastor  Lincoln  Park  Congregational  Church,  437  Belden  Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 

Beck,  Lafayette  D.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church,  Salem,  111. 

Belfield,  Henry  H. 

1903        Director  Chicago  Manual  Training  School,  5738  Washington  Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 

Bentall,  E.  G.,  Rev. 

1903         Student  Divinity  School,  University  of  Chicago,  5432  Ingleside  Ave.,  Chicago, 
IL. 

Bergen,  Abram  G.,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1903        Pastor  Drexel  Park  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church,  6334  Justine  St.,  Chicago, 
lU. 

Best,  Nolan  R.  * 

1903         Associate  Editor  "The  Interior,"  69  Dearborn  St.,  Chicago,  111. 

Blair,  John  A.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Presbyterian  Church,  615  Ten  Brook  St.,  Paris,  111. 

Blatchford,  Eliphalet  W.,  LL.D. 

1903         Manufacturer,  375  LaSalle  Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 

Brodfuhrer,  J.  C,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903         Senior  Ministerium  Evangelical  Lutheran  Synod  Northern  Illinois,  954  W. 
Adams  St.,  Chicago,  111. 

Bronson,  Solon  C,  D.D. 

1903         Professor  Garrett  Biblical  Institute,  720  Foster  St.,  Evanston,  111. 


THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION  559 

IIAANOIS— Continued 

Beouse,  Olin  R.,  A.m. 

IQ03         Sunday-School  Teacher,  845  North  Church  St.,  Rockford,  lU. 

Brown,  Daniel  M. 

1903  Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Prophetstown,  111. 

Brown,  George  P.  ^  ,,,,,,•  l- 

1904  Editor  School  and  Home  Education,  President  The  Public  School  Pubhshing 
Co.,  Bloomington,  111. 

Brown,  James  A.,  Rev.  * 

1903         Pastor  First  Baptist  Church,  17  No.  Highland  Ave.,  Aurora,  111. 

Bryant,  Stowell  L.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor   Hyde   Park   Methodist    Episcopal    Church,    5510   Washington   Ave. 
Chicago,  111. 

Burgess,  Isaac  B.  ^     .      c-  i.    ■ 

1903         Professor   Morgan   Park   Academy,   Superintendent   Baptist   Sunday   School 
10932  Armida  Ave.,  Morgan  Park,  111. 

Burlingame,  George  E.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Covenant  Baptist  Church,  555  W.  60th  Place,  Chicago,  111. 

Burnham,  Frederick  W.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Central  Church  of  Christ,  Vice-President  Illinois  Christian   Endeavor 
Union,  708  West  Wood  St.,  Decatur,  111. 

BxTXT,  Frank  H.  ,        r  ^  „   c 

1903         Director  Training  Y.  M.  C.  A.  Institute  and  Traimng  School,  153  LaSalle  St., 
Chicago,  111. 

Burton,  Ernest  DeWitt,  D.D.  * 

1903  Professor  University  of  Chicago,  Chicago,  111. 

Butler,  John  Harding  t  1     c    ,^  . 

1904  Director  Boy's  Work,  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  608  Lake  St.,  Oak 
Park,  111. 

Butler,  Nathaniel,  A.M.,  D.D. 

1903  Professor  University  of  Chicago,  Chicago,  111. 

Byrnes,  John  H.,  M.D. 

1904  690  West  Monroe  St.,  Chicago,  111. 

Galley,  Walter 

1903         General   Secretary   Baptist   Young   People's  Union,  4917   Washington   Ave., 
Chicago,  m. 

Campbell,  James  M.,  Rev.   D.D. 

1903        Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Lombard,  111. 
Campbell,  Stuart  M.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903         Pastor  Emerald  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church,  762  W.  67th  St.,  Chicago,  111. 

C.^NTWELL,  J.  S.,  Rev.,  A.M.,  D.D. 

1903         Western  Editor  "Universalist  Leader,"  69  Dearborn  St.,  Chicago,  111. 

Carman,  George  Noble 

1903        Director  Lewis  Institute,  235  Ashland  Blvd.,  Chicago,  111. 

Carrier,  Augustus  S.,  D.D. 

1903  Professor  McCormick  Theological  Seminary,  1042  N.  Halsted  St.,  Chicago,  111. 

Carus,  Paul,  LL.D. 

1904  Editor  Open  Court  Publishing  Co.,  324  Dearborn  St..  Chicago,  111. 

Case,  William  Warren 

1903        Principal  Congregational  Bible  School,  Winnetka,  111. 

Chalmers,  James,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903         Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  Elgin,  111. 

Chamberlin,  Georgia  L. 

1903        Executive   Secretary  American  Institute  of   Sacred   Literature,  Hyde  Park 
Chicago,  111. 

Chamberlin,  Orlando  E.  + 

1903  Real  Estate  and  Insurance,  357  E.  s8th  St.,  Chicago,  111. 

Chase,  Wayland  J. 

1904  Dean  Morgan  Park  Academy,  Morgan  Park,  111. 

Clark,  Maud  G.,  Mrs. 

1903-       Freeport,  111. 

Cobern,  Camden  M.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1904        Pastor  St.  James  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  4611  Ellis  Ave.,  Chicago  111 


56o  THg  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

ILLINOIS — Continued 
CoE,  George  Albert,  Ph.D.  t* 

ipo3         Professor  Northwestern  University,  620  University  Place,  Evanston,  lU. 

CoE,  Mrs.  George  A. 

1903  Professor  Northwestern  University  School  of  Music,  Evanston,  111. 

CoLLEDGE,  William  A.,  D.D.  * 

1904  Dean   American   School  of   Correspondence   at   Armour   Institute,   Chicago, 
lU. 

Cook,  John  W.,  A.M.,  LL.D. 

1903        President  Northern  Illinois  State  Normal  School,  DeKalb,  lU. 

Cook,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  B.,  A.M. 

1903         President  Woman's  Educational  Union,  316  Washington  Blvd.,  Chicago,  111. 

Cooke,  Ralph  W. 

1903        Asst.    Secretary    Young    Men's    Christian    Association,     153    LaSaUe    St., 
Chicago,  111. 

Cope,  Henry  F.,  Rev. 

1903  5479  Jefferson  Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 
Coulter,  John  Merle,  Ph.D. 

1904  Professor  University  of  Chicago,  5340  EUis  Ave.,  Chicago,  lU. 

Grosser,  John  R.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Pastor  Kenwood  EvangeUcal  Church,  4600  Greenwood  Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 

Crouse,  Mrs.  J.  N. 

1903         Principal  Chicago  Kindergarten  College,  10  Van  Buren  St.,  Chicago,  111. 

Crowl,  Theodore,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  708  W.  3d  St.,  Sterhng,  111. 

Cxjlton,  Anna 

1903        5627  Washington  Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 

Curtis,  Edward  H.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Pastor  Woodlawn  Park  Presbyterian  Church,  6224  Kimbark  Ave.,  Chicago,  111, 

Curtiss,  Samuel  Ives,  Ph.D.,  D.D. 

1903        Professor  Chicago  Theological  Seminary,  45  Warren  Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 

Dark,  Charles  L.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Methodist  Protestant  Church,  Chapin,  111. 

Dean,  LasCasas  L. 

1903         3339  Vernon  Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 

Dewhurst,  Frederic  E.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  University  Congregational  Church,  5746  Madison  Ave.,  Chicago,  111, 

Dexter,  Stephen  B.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Baptist  Church,  Polo,  111. 

Dickerson,  J.  Spencer  * 

1903        Editor  "The  Standard."  324  Dearborn  St.,  Chicago,  111. 

Dickey,  Samuel,  A.M. 

1903  Professor  McCormick  Theological  Seminary,  The  Plaza,  Chicago,  111. 

DoDDS,  Robert,  M.D. 

1904  Sunday-School  Teacher,  144  Oakwood  Blvd.,  Chicago,  111. 

Dougherty,  Newton  C,  Ph.D. 

1903         Superintendent  of  Schools,  Peoria,  111. 

Driver,  John  M.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Pastor  People's  Church,  6045  Jefferson  Ave.,  Chicago,  lU. 

Eastman,  W.  D. 

1903        Dept.  Secretary  Railroad  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  169  Plymouth 
Place,  Dearborn  Station,  Chicago,  111. 

Eckels,  James  Herron  t 

1903         President  Commercial  National  Bank,  Chicago,  111. 

Ehler,  George  W.,  C.E. 

1903         Physical  Director   Central  Dept.   Young   Men's   Christian  Association,   153 
LaSalle  St.,  Chicago,  111. 

Eiselen,  Frederick  C. 

1903        Professor  Garrett  BibUcal  Institute,  724  Emerson  St.,  Evanston,  111. 

Elliott,  Ashley  J.  * 

1903         Officer  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  Peoria,  III. 


THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION  561 

ILLINOIS— Continued 
Ensign,  Frederick  G. 

1903         Superintendent  Northwestern  District  American  Sunday  School  Union,   153 
LaSalle  St.,  Chicago,  111. 

Eyles,  William  J.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  First  Baptist  Church,  Savanna,  111. 

Fairman,  Jane  J 

1903        Clerk  Illinois  Central  Railroad,  5715  Monroe  Ave.,  Chicago,  lU. 
Faville,  John,  Rev.,  Ph.D.,  D.D. 

1903         Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  Peoria,  111. 

Ferguson,  William  D. 

1903  972  W.  Superior  St.,  Chicago,  lU. 

Field,  Marshall 

1904  Merchant,  1905  Prairie  Ave.,  Chicago,  lU. 

Flett,  George  C,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Presbyterian  Church,  Farmingdale,  111. 

Ford,  J.  S. 

1903        Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  153  LaSalle  St.,  Chicago,  111. 

Foster,  George  B. 

1903        Professor  University  of  Chicago,  5535  Lexington  Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 
Francis,  Arthur  J.,  Rev. 

1903        Douglas  Park  Congregational  Church,  897  S.  Spaulding  Ave.,  Chicago,  III. 

Freeman,  Henry  V.,  A.M. 

1903        Judge  Illinois  Appellate  Court,  S760  Woodlawn  Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 
French,  Howard  D.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Wyoming,  111. 
Fritter,  Enoch  A.,  A.M. 

1903        Superintendent  City  Schools,  301  School  St.,  Normal,  111. 
Frost,  Henry  Hoag 

1903        Principal  Geneseo  High  School,  Geneseo,  111. 
Galbreath,  Mrs.  William  F. 

1903        Ashfon,  111. 

Gates,  Herbert  Wright 

1903  Librarian  Chicago  Theological  Seminary,  Superintendent  Leavitt  Street  Con- 
gregational Sunday  School,  53  Warren  Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 

George,  Joseph  Henry,  Ph.D.,  D.D. 

1904  President  Chicago  Theological  Seminary,  81  Ashland  Blvd.,  Chicago,  111. 

Gilbert,  Newell  D. 

1903        Superintendent  of  Schools,  DeKalb,  111. 

Gilbert,  Simeon,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903  423  N.  State  St.,  Chicago,  III. 
Gilliland,  James  H.,  Rev. 

1904  Pastor  Second  Christian  Church,  505  East  Grove  Street,  Bloomington,  III. 

Graham,  John  J.  G.,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1903         Pastor  Congregational  Church,  219  York  St.,  Blue  Island,  III. 

Greene,  Benjamin  A.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Pastor  First  Baptist  Church,  1145  Benson  Ave.,  Evanston,  111. 

Greenman,  a.  V. 

1903  Superintendent  Schools  West  Aurora,  248  Galena  St.,  Aurora,  111. 

Griffith,  Mrs.  Jennie  S. 

1904  President  Board  of  Managers  of  the  American  Committee,  140  Dearborn  St., 
Chicago,  111. 

GxiNSAULus,  Frank,  W.  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        President  Armour  Institute  of  Technology,  Pastor  Central  Church,  Chicago,  111. 

Hansel,  John  W.  * 

1903        President  Y.  M.  C.  A.  Institute  and  Training  School,  153  LaSalle  St.,  Chicago, 

Hardinge,  Margaret 

1903  Assistant  Chicago  Traveling  Libraries,  University  of  Chicago,  5715  Monroe 
Ave.,  Chicago,  III. 

Harker,  Joseph  R.,  Ph.D. 

1904  President  Illinois  Woman's  College,  Jacksonville,  111. 


562  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

ILLINOIS — Continued 
Harlan,  Richard  D.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        President  Lake  Forest  College,  Lake  Forest,  IL. 

Harper,  Edward  T.,  Ph.D. 

1903        Professor  Chicago  Theological  Seminary,  730  W.  Adams  St.,  Chicago,  111. 

Harper,  William  R.,  Ph.D.,  D.D.,  LL.D.  t 

1903        President  University  of  Chicago,  Chicago,  111. 

Harrington,  C.  N. 

1903         Superintendent  First  Congregational  Sunday  School,  Oak  Park,  111. 

Hartwell,  H.  Linwood,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Nepon.'set,  111. 

Hartzell,  Morton  C,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Centenary  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  409  W.  Monroe  St.,  Chicago,  111. 

Hatch,  William  H. 

1903        Superintendent  Public  Schools,  Oak  Park,  111. 

Hawley,  Fred  V.,  Rev. 

1903        Secretary  Western  Unitarian  Conference,  175  Dearborn  St.,  Chicago,  111. 

Hayes,  Dorejhjs  A.,  Ph.D.,  S.T.D.,  LL.D. 

1903        Professor  Garrett  Biblical  Institute,  620  Foster  St.,  Evanston,  111. 

Hegeler,  Edward  C.  t 

1903        President  The  Open  Coiu^  Publishing  Co.,  324  Dearborn  St.,  Chicago,  111. 
Henderson,  Charles  R.,  Ph.D.,  D.D. 

1903         Professor  University  of  Chicago,  5736  Washington  Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 

Herrick,  Henry  M.,  Rev.,  A.M.,  Ph.D. 

1903        Principal  Public  Schools,  Stockton,  111. 

Heuver,  G.  D.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Presbyterian  Church,  Wenona,  111. 

HiERONYMTJS,  ROBERT  E.,  A.M. 

1903        President  Eureka  College,  Eureka,  111. 

HoLT,  Charles  S.  _  t 

1903        Attorney  and  Counselor-at-Law,  1931  Calumet  Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 
Horswell,  Charles,  Rev.,  Ph.D.,  D.D. 

1903        Pastor  Union  Church,  Kenilworth,  111. 

HoTTON,  J.  Sidney 

1903  Asst.  General  Secretary  Y.  M.  C.  A.  Institute  and  Training  School,  153  LaSalle 
St.,  Chicago,  111. 

Houchens,  Walter  O. 

1904  Asst.  Pastor  Trinity  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  2519  Indiana  Ave.,  Chicago, 

ni. 
Hulbert,  Eri  B.,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

1903        Dean  Divinity  School,  University  of  Chicago,  Chicago,  111. 

Hutchinson,  Charles  L.  t 

1903        Vice-President  Corn  Exchange  National  Bank,  2709  Prairie  Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 

Jackman,  Wilbur  S. 

1903        Professor  School  of  Education,  University  of  Chicago,  Chicago,  111. 

Jackson,  John  L.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Pastor  Hyde  Park  Baptist  Church,  5607  Lexington  Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 

James,  Edmund  J.,  Ph.D.,  LL.D. 

1903         President  Northwestern  University,  Evanston,  lU. 

Johonnot,  R.  F.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Unity  Church,  Oak  Park,  111. 

Jones,  Jenkin  Lloyd,  Rev. 

1003        Pastor  All  Souls  Church,  Editor  "Unity,"  3939  Langley  Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 

Jones,  Silas,  A.M.,  D.B. 

1903        Professor  Eureka  College,  Eureka,  111. 

Kallenberg,  H.  F.,  M.D. 

1903  Y.  M.  C.  A.  Institute  and  Training  School,  153  LaSaJle  St.,  Chicago,  111. 

Kimball,  Frank 

1904  131  South  Elmwood  Ave.,  Oak  Park,  111. 

Kimball,  Kate  F.  .  .    , 

1903        Executive  Secretary  Chautauqua  Literary  and  Scientific  Circle,  5711  Kimbark 
Ave.,  Chicago,  lU. 


THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION  563 

ILLINOIS— Co«//«Me<f 
Lahman,  William  H. 

IQ04        1 142  Morse  Ave.,  Rogers  Park,  Chicago,  111. 

Landrith,  Ira,  Rev.,  LL.D.  t  c  h    c.    n^v^L 

1003        General  Secretary  Religious  Education  Association,  153  Laballe  bt.,  Ctiicago, 
lU. 

Lane,  Albert  G.,  A.M. 

1904        Assistant  Superintendent  of  Schools,  430  W.  Adams  St.,  Chicago,  ill. 

Lanphear,  Mrs.  H.  M.  •     1  r>i  1   c  u    1 

1903         Superintendent  Primary  Department  Leavitt  St.  Congregational  Bible  School. 
871  Adams  St.,  Chicago,  111. 

Laughlin,  J.  W.,  Rev.,  D.D.  ■     n^.     x.  nu-         m 

1903        Pastor  Englewood  Cumberland  Presbytenan  Church,  Chicago,  lU. 

Lawson,  Victor  F.  ' 

1903        PubUsher  "Chicago  Daily  News,"  128  Fifth  Ave.,  Chicago,  iU. 

Leavitt,  J.  A.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903  President  Ewing  College,  Ewmg,  111. 

Lindsay,  Mary  B  . 

1904  Librarian  Free  Public  Library,  Evanston,  IU. 

Little,  Arthur  M.,  Rev.,  Ph.D. 

1903         Pastor  Second  Presbyterian  Church,  1000  Perry  Ave.,  Peoria,  111. 

'        1903        Woodlawn  United  Presbyterian  Church,  449  E.  62d  St.,  Chicago,  111. 
LoBA,  Jean  Frederic,  Rev.,  D.D.  ^       ,    ,  c     ir       ,      m 

1903         Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  414  Greenleaf  St.,  Evanston,  IU. 

Locke,  George  H.,  A.M. 

1903         Professor  University  of  Chicago,  Editor  "School  Review.    Chicago,  IU. 

Lord,  Mrs.  John  B.  t 

1903        4857  Greenwood  Ave.,  Chicago,  IU. 

Lowden,  Frank  O.  ,  ^  „  c-    r-v.-        m 

IQ03        Attorney  and  Counselor-at-Law,  184  LaSaUe  St.,  Chicago,  IU. 

Lynn,  Jay  Elwood,  Rev.,  .A..M.  ^    .    .  ,j  „, 

1903        Pastor  West  Side  Christian  Church,  Spnngheld,  IU. 

MacChesney,  Nathan  W.  ^    .  .      .      •  .■  1,7  u     • 

1903         A<;st.  General  Secretary  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  742  W.  Harrison 
St.,  Chicago,  IU. 

MacClintock,  William  D.  * 

Professor  University  of  Chicago,  Chicago,  IU. 

MacClintock,  Mrs.  William  D. 

1903         5629  Lexington  Ave.,  Chicago,  IU. 

1903        President  lUinois  Home  Missionary  Society,  8i6  W.  Adams  St.,  Chicago,  IU. 

Mallory,  Hervey  F.  ,,  .      .      ,  „, .         ^, . 

1903         Secretary  Correspondence  Study  Department,  University  of  Chicago,  Clucago 
IU. 

Marsh,  Charles  A.  ,„,,-,       nu- 

1903         Principal  Hyde  Park  Baptist  Sunday  School,  5639  Washington,  Ave.,  Chicago 
111. 

Mathews,  Shailer,  A.M.,  D.D. 

1903        Professor  University  of  Chicago,  5736  Woodlawn  Ave.,  Chicago,  IU. 

Matz,  Rudolph  + 

1Q04        W'innetka,  IU. 

McAfee,  Cleland  B.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Pastor  Forty-first  Street  Presbyterian  Church,  3911  Grand  Blvd.,  Chicago,  IU. 

McCoLLUM,  G.  T.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Dundee,  IU. 

McCoRMicK,  Harold  F. 

1903        7  Monroe  St.,  Chicago,  IU. 

McCormick,  Stanley  M.  t 

1903        2 IS  Dearborn  St.,  Chicago,  IU. 

McCulloch,  Frank  H. 

1903         2236  Orrington  St.,  Evanston,  IU. 


564  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

I'LL.INOIS— Continued 
McDowell,  William  Fraser,  Ph.D.,  S.T.D. 

Bishop  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  57  Washington  St.,  Chicago,  111. 

McKee,  William  P.,  A.M. 

1903        Dean  Frances  Shimer  Academy,  Mt.  Carroll,  111. 

McKiBBEN,  William  K. 

1903        Associated  Charities  of  Chicago,  514  E.  S3d  St.,  Chicago,  111. 

McLean,  Lester,  Jr. 

1903        81  Ashland  Blvd.,  Chicago,  111. 

McLeish,  Andrew 

1903        Trustee  University  of  Chicago,  Bible-Class  Teacher,  Glencoe,  lU. 

McLeish,  Mrs.  Andrew 

1903         Glencoe,  IE. 

McMiLLEN,  W.  F.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903  District  Secretary  Congregational  Sunday  School  and  PubUshing  Society,  1008 
Association  Building,  Chicago,  111. 

McWiLLiAMS,  Lafayette 

1904  Oil  Producer   3961  Lake  Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 

Merrill,  William  P.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Pastor  Sixth  Presbyterian  Chiu-ch,  33  Aldine  Square,  Chicago,  111. 

Messer,  L.  Wilbur  t 

1903         General  Secretary  Chicago  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,   153  LaSalle 
St..  Chicago,  111. 

Messer,  Mrs.  L.  Wilbur 

Recording  Secretary  American  Committee,  Chicago,  111. 

Miller,  D.  L.,  Rev. 

1903         Chairman  National  Mission,  German  Baptist  Brethren  Church,  Editor  "Mes- 
senger," Mt.  Morris,  111. 

Miller,  Kerby  S.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Independent  Presbyterian  Church,  Polo,  111. 

Milligan,  Henry  Forsythe,  A.M. 

1903         Rector  Christ  Church,  1003  Perry  Ave.,  Peoria,  111. 

Mills,  John  Nelson,  Rev.,  A.M.,  D.D.  * 

1903        1220  Ridge  Ave.,  Evanston,  111. 
MiLNER,  Duncan  C,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Central  Presbyterian  Church,  409  Herkimer  St.,  JoUet,  111. 

MoNCRiEF,  John  W. 

1903        Professor  University  of  Chicago,  5717  Monroe  Ave.,  Chicago  lU. 

Moor,  George  Caleb,  Rev.,  A.M.,  Ph.D. 

1903        607  W.  Hill  St.,  Champaign,  111. 

MooRE,  James  H. 

1903  Superintendent  South  Congregational  Sunday  School,  4433  Greenwood  Ave. 
Chicago,  lU. 

MOOREHEAD,  FREDERICK  B.,  D.D.S.,  M.D. 

1904  Superintendent  Centenary  Methodist  Episcopal  Sunday  School,  565  W.  Adams 
St.,  Chicago,  111. 

Morgan,  Oscar  T.,  Rev.,  Ph.D. 

1903        Pastor  Union  Church,  Lindenwood,  111. 

Mudge,  Elisha,  Rev. 

1903  Pastor  Oakwoods  Union  Church,  819  E.  66th  St.,  Chicago,  111. 

Munger,  Orett  L. 

1904  9  Drexel  Square,  Chicago,  111. 

Nelson,  Aaron  Hayden,  A.M. 

1903        Principal  Hyde  Park  Baptist  Sunday  School,  247  S7th  St.,  Chicago,  111. 

Nicholson,  James  C. 

1903        Sunday-School  Teacher,  317  Sargent  St.,  Litchfield,  111. 

Norton,  William  B.,  A.M.,  Ph.D. 

1903        Pastor  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  443  LeMoyne  St.,  Chicago,  111. 

Notman,  William  Robson,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Pastor  Fourth  Presbyterian  Church,  446  Chestnut  St.,  Chicago,  111. 

NOYES,  G.  C. 

1903        Chapin,  lU. 


THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION  565 

ILLINOIS— Cow/mweif 
Gates,  James  F. 

1903        626  Hamlin  St.,  Evanston,  111. 
OSBORN,  LORAN  D.,  ReV.,  Ph.D. 

1903        Pastor  First  Baptist  Church,  Bloomington,  111. 
OsBOKNE,  Naboth,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1903        Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  120  S.  i6th  St.,  Mattoon,  111. 

Otto,  James  T. 

1903         Asst.  Secretary  Railroad  Dept.  Chicago  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
Dolton  Juncton,  111. 

Page,  Herman,  Rev. 

1903         Rector  St.  Paul's  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  5035  Madison  Ave.,  Chicago, 
111. 

Page,  Mrs.  Mary  B. 

1903        Director  Chicago  Kindergarten  Institute,  40  Scott  St.,  Chicago,  111. 
Palm,  Charles,  Rev. 

1903         Stmday-School  Missionary,  833  Central  Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 

Parker,  Alonzo  K.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903         Professor  University  of  Chicago,  Chicago,  111. 

Parker,  C.  M. 

1903        Editor  ''School  News,"  Taylorville,  111. 

Parker,  William  J.  * 

1903         Asst.  General  Secretary  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  153  LaSaUe  St., 
Chicago,  111. 

Parkhurst,  Matthew  M.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903         Pastor  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Superintendent  Citizens'  League  of    Chi- 
cago, 1612  Hinman  Ave.,  Evanston,  111. 

Patten,  Amos  W.,  D.D.  * 

1903         Professor  Northwestern  University,  616  Foster  St.,  Evanston,  111. 

Perkins,  J.  G. 

1903        Asst.  Director  Educational  Dept.  Central  Young  Men's  Christian  Association, 
Chicago,  111. 

Pike,  Granville  Ross,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1903         Pastor  Millard  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church,  942  S.  Central  Park  Ave.,  Chicago, 
111. 

Porter,  Mrs.  Ora  H. 

1903         1007  S.  Fourth  St.,  Princeton,  111. 

Pruen,  J.  W.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Forrest,  111. 

Robertson,  Ina  Law 

1903        Bible-Class  Teacher,  6042  Kirabark  Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 

Robinson,  George  L.,  Ph.D. 

1903         Professor  McCormick  Theological  Seminary,  10  Chalmers  Place,  Chicago,  111. 

Robinson,  Willard  H.,  Rev. 

1903  Pastor  First  Presbyterian  Church,  Englewood,  111. 

Roe,  Charles 

1904  Superintendent  Chicago  Branch  of  the  American  Baptist  Publication  Society, 
175  Wabash  Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 

Rogers,  Euclid  B.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Pastor  Central  Baptist  Church,  536  S.  State  St.,  Springfield,  111. 
Rosenquist,  Eric  J.  A.,  Rev. 

1903  Pjkstor  Evangelical  Lutheran  Saron  Church,  52  Shakespeare  Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 

Savage,  G.  L.  F.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1904  628  Washington  Blvd.,  Chicago,  111. 

Scheible,  Albert 

1903        President  Chicago  Union  Liberal  Sunday  Schools,  129  Fulton  St.,  Chicago,  111. 

Scott,  Mrs.  Robert  S. 

1903        Lakeside,  111. 
Scott,  Walter  D.,  Ph.D. 

1903        Professor  Northwestern  University,  562  Willard  Place,  Evanston,  111. 
Scoville,  Charles  R.,  Rev.,  A.M.,  LL.D. 

1903         Pastor  Metropohtan  Church  of  Christ,  304  Oakley  Blvd.,  Chicago,  111. 


566  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

ILLINOIS — Continued 
Severinghatjs,  J.  D.,  Rev.,  A.M.,  D.D. 

1903        Pastor  Lutheran  Church,  Editor  "Chicago  Banner,"  439  N.  Ashland  Ave. 
Chicago,  111. 

Seymour,  Paul  H. 

1903         President  American  League  New  Church  Young  People's  Society,  245  E.  6ist 
St.,  Chicago,  111. 

Shasman,  Henry  Burton 

1903        5716  Madison  Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 
Sheets,  Frank  D.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Epworth  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  261 1  Kenmore  Ave.,  Edgewater^ 
lU. 

Sherer,  Samuel  J. 

1903        Vice-President  Sherer  Bros.  Co.,  4536  Lake  Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 
Sherer,  William  G. 

1903         President  Sherer  Bros.  Co.,  Superintendent  First  Baptist  Bible  School,  Evans- 
ton,  lU. 

Sherman,  Edwin  T. 

1903         Secretary  West  Side  Dept.  Young    Men's    Christian    Association,    542    W. 
Monroe  St.,  Chicago,  111. 

Sherman,  Franklyn  Cole,  Rev. 

1903        Rector  St.  Peter's  Church,  Belmont  Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 
Slater,  John  R. 

1903  Managing  Editor  "The  World  Today,"  Chicago,  111. 

Sloane,  Joseph  Curtis 

1904  Head  Master  Lake  Forest  School,  Lake  Forest,  111. 
Small,  Albion  W.,  Ph.D.,  LL.D. 

1903        Professor  Lfniversity  of  Chicago,  S73i  Washington  Ave.,  Chicago,  lU. 
Smith,  Arthur  Maxson,  Rev.,  Ph.D. 

1903        Del  Prado  Hotel,  Chicago,  111. 
Smith,  Gerald  Birney 

1903        Instructor  University  of  Chicago,  5430  Lexington  Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 
Smith,  James  R.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Pilgrim  Congregational  Church,  1470  Hampshire  St.,  Quincy,  lU. 

Smith,  John  M.  P.,  Ph.D. 

1903        Instructor  University  of  Chicago,  469  56th  St.,  Chicago,  111. 
SoARES,  Theodore  G.,  Ph.D.,  D.D. 

1903        Pastor  First  Baptist  Church,  428  Clinton  Ave.,  Oak  Park,  111. 
Starkey,  L.  V. 

1903        General  Secretary  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  SterUng,  111. 
Starrett,  Mrs.  Helen  E. 

1903        Principal  Starrett  School,  4707  Vincennes  Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 

Stearns,  Wallace  Nelson,  Ph.D. 

1903         Secretary  to  the  President  of  Northwestern  University,  Evanston,  111. 

Stevenson,  Andrew 

1903         President  Chicago  Young  Men's  Presbyterian  Union,  615  Monadnock  Elk. 
Chicago,  lU. 

Stewart,  Charles  S. 

1903         Asst.  Physical  Director  Central  Dept.  Young  Men's  Christian  Association, 
Chicago,  111. 

Strain,  Horace  L.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  Decatur,  111. 

Strong,  Sidney,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903         Pastor  Second  Congregational  Church,  Oak  Park,  111. 

Stuart,  Charles  M.,  A.M.,  D.D.  * 

1903         Professor  Garrett  Biblical  Institute,  Evanston,  111. 

Swertfager,  George  A.,  Rev. 

1903  Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Morris,  111. 

Taft,  Lorado 

1904  1038  Fine  Arts  Building,  Chicago,  lU. 
Taylor,  Alva  W.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Christian  Church,  Eureka,  111. 


THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION  567 

ILLINOIS — Continued 
Taylor,  Graham,  D.D. 

1903  Professor  Chicago  Theological  Seminary,  Warden  of  Chicago  Commons,  i8o 
Grand  Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 

Tenney,  William  Lawrence,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1904  Secretary   American  Missionary   Association,   Room    1004,  153   LaSalle   St. 
Chicago,  111. 

Thomas,  D.  F.,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1903  Pastor  English  Lutheran  Church.  Washington,  III. 

Thompson,  M.  A. 

1904  6639  Normal  Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 

Thorp,  Willard  B.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  South  Congregational  Church,  3977  Drexel  Blvd.,  Chicago,  111. 

Tompkins,  Arnold,  A.M.,  Ph.D. 

1003         Principal  Cook  County  Normal  School,  6547  Harvard  Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 

Tompkins,  DeLoss  M.,  Rev.,  A.M.,  D.D. 

1903  Pastor  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  305  N.  4th  St.,  DeKalb,  111. 

Turner,  George  H. 

1904  Petersburg,  lU. 

Ullrick,  Delbert  S.,  Rev.,  S.T.B.  * 

1903        Berwyn,  111. 

VanArsdall,  Geo.  B.,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1903         Pastor  Central  Christian  Church,  703  Bryan  Ave.,  Peoria,  111. 

Vance,  Joseph  A.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903         Pastor  Hyde  Park  Presbyterian  Church,  181  E.  53d  St.,  Chicago,  lU. 

VanHoesen,  Fred  J.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Unitarian  Church,  Sheffield,  111. 

Vincent,  George  E.,  Ph.D.  f* 

1903         Professor  University  of  Chicago  Principal  of  Chautauqua  Instruction,  5737 
Lexington  Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 

Vose,  Frederic  Perry 

1903        Teacher  Young  Men's  Bible  Class,  1014  Maple  Ave.,  Evanston,  111. 
VOTAW,  Clyde  Weber,  Ph.D.  f* 

1903         Professor  University  of  Chicago,  Editorial  Secretary  Religious  Education  Asso- 
ciation, 437  E.  6ist  St.,  Chicago,  111. 

VoTAW,  Mrs.  Elihu  H. 

1903        1007  S.  Fourth  St.,  Princeton,  111. 

Ward,  Harry  F.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Forty-fourth  Street  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  44th  St.  and  Union 
Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 

Wardle,  Mrs.  Charles  A. 

1903        Sii  N.  Grove  Ave.,  Oak  Park,  111. 

Wells,  F.  k. 

1903  6704  Stewart  Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 

Wheeler,  Arthur  Dana,  A.M. 

1904  President  Chicago  Telephone  Co.,  19  Bellevue  PI.,  Chicago,  111. 

White,  Frederick  * 

1903        Director  ReUgious  Work,  Central  Dept.  Young  Men's   Christian  Association, 
153  LaSalle  St.,  Chicago,  111. 

WiCKES,  William  R. 

1903         Instructor    Chicago    Manual    Training    School,    Superintendent    Woodlawn 
Presbyterian  Sunday  School,  6231  Kimbark  Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 

Wilder,  William  H.,  A.M.,  D.D. 

1903         Presiding  Elder  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Bloomington,  111. 

Willett,  Herbert  L.,  Ph.D. 

1903        Professor  University  of  Chicago,  Chicago.  111. 
Williams,  Edward  F.,  Rev.,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

1903        Professor  Evanston  Aveaue  Congregational  Church,  281   E.  46th  St.,  Chicago, 

Williams,  Edward  M.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Secretary  Executive  Committee  Chicago  Theological  Seminary,  i8  Ashland 
Blvd.,  Chicago,  111. 


568  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

ILLINOIS — Continued 
Williams,  Mrs.  Alice  L. 

1903  Volunteer  Worker  and  Organizer  for  King's  Daughters,  593  Jackson  Blvd., 
Chicago,  111. 

Wilson,  C.  J.,  Rev. 

1904  Pastor  Memorial  Church,  6434  Washington  Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 

Wilson,  Lucy  L. 

1903        Teacher  West  Division  High  School,  120  Park  Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 

Winchester,  Benjamin  S.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Winnetka,  111. 

Witter,  Marcus  A.,  Rev. 

igo4        Pastor  Brethren  Church,  Milledgeville,  111. 

Wood,  Walter  M.  * 

1903        Superintendent  of  Education,  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  153  LaSalle 
St.,  Chicago,  lU. 

Wyant,  a.  R.  E.,  Rev.,  Ph.D. 

1903        Pastor  First  Baptist  Church,  11012  Armida  Ave.,  Morgan  Park,  111. 

Young,  Charles  A.,  Rev. 

1903         Editor  "Christian  Century,"  5641  Madison  Ave.,  Chicago,  111. 

Zenos,  Andrew  C,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Professor  McCormick  Theological  Seminary,  Chicago,  111. 

institutions 
American  Institute  of  Sacred  Literature 

1903  Executive  Secretary,  Miss  Georgia  L.  Chamberlin,  Hyde  Park,  Chicago,  111. 
Centenary  Methodist  Episcopal  Sunday  School 

1904  Secretary,  Bradford  M.  Leadbetter,  347  Fulton  St.,  Chicago,  111. 

Chicago  Theological  Seminary 

1904        President,  Joseph  H.  George,  PhD.,  D.D.,  Chicago,  111. 

EvANSTON  Free  Public  Library 

1904         President,  J.  W.  Thompson,  Evanston,  111. 

Lake  Forest  College 

1904        President,  Richard  D.  Harlan,  D.D.,  Lake  Forest,  111. 

Men's  Normal  Bible  Class  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 

1903  Leader,  C.  T.  Wyckoff,  Peoria,  111. 

Northwestern  College 

1904  President,  H.  J.  Kiekhofer,  Ph.D.,  Naperville,  ID. 

Northwestern  University 

1903  President,  Edmund  J.  James,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.,  Evanston,  111. 

Peoria  Public  Library 

1904  President,  E.  S.  WiUcox,  Peoria,  111. 

University  of  Chicago 

1903        President,  William  R.  Harper,  Ph.D.,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Chicago,  111. 

INDIANA 
Blunt,  Harry,  Rev. 

1903        1939  Ruckle  St.,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 
Bryan,  William  I^.,  Ph.D. 

1903  President  Indiana  University,  812  No.  College  Ave.,  Bloomington,  Ind. 

Carpenter,  George  C,  Rev. 

1904  Pastor  Brethren  Church,  Warsaw,  Ind. 

Carr,  John  W.,  A.M.  * 

1903         Superintendent  of  Schools,  439  W.  nth  St.,  Anderson,  Ind. 

Coleman,  Christopher  B. 

1903         Professor  Butler  College,  56  S.  Irvington  Ave.,  Indianapohs,  Ind. 

Darby,  W.  J.,  Rev. 

1903         Educational  Secretary  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Churrh,  Evansville,  Ind. 

Farr,  Morton  A.,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1903        Pastor  Trinity  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  1251  Upper  ist  St.,  Evansville 
Ind. 


THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION  569 

INBIAN  A— Continued 
Garrison,  Winfeed  Ernest,  Rev. 

1903         President  Butler  College,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 

GoBiN,  Hillary  A.,  Rev.,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

1903         Greencastle,  Ind. 

H.\iNES,  Matthlas  L.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Pastor  First  Presbyterian  Church,  935  N.  Meridian  St.,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 

Hanson,  A.  W. 

1903  Asst.   Secretary   Young   Men's   Christian   Association,  801    Stevenson   Bldg., 
Indianapolis,  Ind. 

Hill,  Harry  Granison,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1904  General  Secretary  American  Christian  Education  Society,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 

Hoagland,  Descom  D.,  Rev.,  S.T.B., 

1903  Pastor  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Lowell,  Ind. 

HoRSTMAN,  J.  G.,  Rev. 

1904  Buckskin,  Ind. 

Hughes,  Edwin  H.,  S.T.D. 

1903        President  De  Pauw  University,  Greencastle,  Ind. 
Kane,  Willi.\m  P.,  D.D. 

1903         President  Wabash  College,  Crawfordsville,  Ind. 

Kelly,  Robert  Lincoln,  Ph.M. 

1903         President  Earlham  College,  Richmond,  Ind. 

KuHN,  Thomas  H.,  Rev.,  A.M.,  Ph.D. 

1903        Pastor  First  Christian  Church,  Frankfort,  Ind. 
Lyons,  S.  R.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Pastor  United  Presbyterian  Church,  Richmond,  Ind. 
MoTT,  Thomas  Abbott,  A.M. 

1903        Superintendent  of  Schools,  Richmond,  Ind. 

Nicholson,  Mary  E. 

1903        Principal  Normal  School,  1222  Broadway,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 

Pearcy,  James  B. 

1903         Principal  High  School,  208  W.  13th  St.,  Anderson,  Ind. 

Philputt,  Allan  B.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Pastor  Central  Christian  Church,  311  N.  New  Jersey  St.,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 

Russell,  Elbert,  A.M. 

1903        Professor  Earlham  College,  Richmond,  Ind. 
SiGMUND,  William  S.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  First  English  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church,  1025  Chestnut  St.,  Colum- 
bus, Ind. 

Smith,  Ernest  Dailey,  Rev.,  S.T.B. 

1903  Pastor  Methodist  Episcopal  Chiurch,  Danville,  Ind. 

Stansfield,  Joshua,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1904  Meridian  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  2208  Meridian  St.,  IndianapoUs,  Ind 

Starbuck,  Edwin  D.,  Ph.D. 

Professor  Earlham  College,  Richmond,  Ind. 

Tinsley,  Charles  William,  Rev. 

1904        Pastor  Centenary  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  315  No.  7th  St.,  Terre  Haute 
Ind. 

Tippy,  Worth  M.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Broadway  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  2207  Broadway,  IndianapoUs 
Ind. 

Wiles,  Ernest  P.,  A.M. 

1903        Muncie,  Ind. 

Wilson,  William  H.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  First  Presbyterian  Church,  Michigan  City,  Ind. 

institutions 
Earlham  College 

1903  President,  Robert  L.  Kelly,  Ph.M.,  Richmond,  Ind. 

Valparaiso  College 

1904  President,  H.  B.  Brown,  Valparaiso,  Ind. 


S70  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

INDIAN  TERRITORY 
Howard,  George  P.,  Rev. 

1904        Member  Executive  Committee  Board  of  Church  Extension,  Ada,  Ind,  Ter. 

IOWA 
Bartlett,  Walter  I.,  Rev. 

1903         Perry,  Iowa. 

Bell,  Hill  M.,  A.M. 

1903  President  Drake  University,  1091  26th  St.,  Des  Moines,  Iowa 

Bradley,  Daniel  F.,  D.D. 

1904  President  Iowa  College,  ion  Park  St.,  Grinnell,  Iowa 
Brett,  Mrs.  Arthur  W. 

1903         1506  13th  St.,  Des  Moines,  Iowa 

Cady,  George  L. 

1903        Professor  State  University  of  Iowa,  Iowa  City,  Iowa 

Cessna,  Orange  H. 

1903        Professor  Iowa  State  College,  Ames,  Iowa 

Day,  Ernest  E.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  Spencer,  Iowa 
Empey,  F.  D.,  Rev. 

1903         Whiting,  Iowa 

Fairbanks,  Arthur,  Rev.,  Ph.D. 

1903        Professor  State  University  of  Iowa,  7  E.  Bloomington  St.,  Iowa  City,  Iowa 

Friend,  W.  A. 

1903         Christian  Endeavor  Worker,  Manchester,  Iowa 

Haggard,  Alfred  M.,  A.M. 

1903         Dean  College  of  the  Bible,  Drake  University,  2364  Cottage  Grove  Ave.,  Des 
Moines,  Iowa 

Hodgdon,  Frank  W.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Plymouth  Congregational  Church,  Des  Moines,  Iowa 

Johnstone,  N.  W. 

1903        Director  of  Physical  and  Boys'  Dept.  Young  Men's  Christian  Association, 
Oskaloosa,  Iowa 

Klng,  William  F.,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

1903         President  Cornell  College,  Mount  Vernon,  Iowa 

MacLean,  George  E.,  Ph.D.,  LL.D. 

1903         President  State  University  of  Iowa,  Iowa  City,  Iowa 

Marsh,  Robert  L.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Burlington,  Iowa 

McCash,  I.  N.,  Rev. 

1903  Pastor  University  Place  Chtu-ch  of  Christ,  1164  W.  i8th  St.,  Des  Moines,  Iowa 
McCoRMiCK,  S.  B.,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

1904  President  Coe  College,  Cedar  Rapids,  Iowa 

Osgood,  Robert  Storrs,  Rev. 

1903         Belle  Plaine,  Iowa 

Paddock,  George  E.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Congregational  Church,  269  N.  6th  St.,  Keokuk,  Iowa 

Pearson,  William  L.,  Ph.D. 

1903         Professor  Penn  College,  Oskaloosa,  Iowa 

PiERSEL,  Alba  C,  A.M. 

1903         Dean  College  of  Liberal  Arts,  Iowa  Wesleyan  University,  Mt.  Pleasant,  Iowa 

Robinson,  Emma  A. 

1903         Instructor    Sunday-School    Teachers'    Training    Class,    loi    ArUngton    St., 
Dubuque,  Iowa 

Severn,  Hermon  H. 

1903         Pella,  Iowa 

Smith,  George  LeGrand,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Congregational  Church,  208  Washington  St.,  Newton,  Iowa 

Smith,  Otterbein  O.,  Rev. 

1903         State  Superintendent  Congregational  Sunday  School  and  Publishing  Society, 
Grinnell,  Iowa 


THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION  51^ 

IOWA — Continued 
Taylor,  Glen  A.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Emmetsburg,  Iowa 
Thoren,  Herman  H.,  Ph.D. 

1903         President  Western  Union  College,  LeMars,  Iowa 

Waite,  Oren  B.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Mt.  Vernon,  Iowa 

Wight,  Ambrose  S.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Presbyterian  Church,  Lohrville,  Iowa 

Williams,  William  J.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Peterson,  Iowa 

institutions 
Cornell  College 

1903        President,  James  E.  Harlan,  Mount  Vernon,  Iowa 

KANSAS 

Bayles,  J.  W.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Baptist  Church,  Onaga,  Kans. 

Carruth,  William  H.,  Ph.D. 

1903  Professor  University  of  Kansas,  Lawrence,  Kans. 

CoNOLLY,  Charles  Parker,  Rev. 

1904  Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  Hiawatha,  Kans. 

Frantz,  Edward,  A.M. 

1903        President  McPherson  College.  McPherson,  Kans. 

Hayes,  Francis  L.,  Rev.,  D.D.  .    ^     ,     t^ 

1903        Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  429  Harrison  St.,  Topeka.  Kans. 

'      1903        State  Superintendent  Congregational  Sunday  School  and  PubUsliing  Society, 
1315  Garfield  Ave.,  Topeka,  Kans. 

Miller,  John  C,  Rev.,  A.M.,  D.D. 

1903        President  College  of  Empona,  Emporia,  Kans. 
MuRLiN,  Lemuel  H.,  Rev.,  S.T.D. 

1903         President  Baker  University,  Baldwin,  Kans. 

Patton,  Walter  M.,  Ph.D.  * 

1903        Professor  Baker  University,  Baldwin,  Kans. 

Payne,  Wallace  C.  .  ^x     j  «      t  v 

1903        Instructor  Bible,  Kansas  State  University,  1300  Oread  Ave.,  Lawrence,  Kans. 

Price,  Maude 

1903        Teacher  Sumner  Co.  High  School,  Wellington,  Kans. 

ScRUTON,  Charles  A.  ^.    „    ,    ,  ,  r^-.    v 

1903  Vice-President  Arkansas  City  Bank,  Arkansas  City,  Kans. 

Springston,  Jenkins,  Ph.D.  ^  c       c      .       <;     ti-  t        c. 

1904  Baptist  Sunday   School   Missionary  and   State  Secretary,  615  Hickory  St., 
Ottawa,  Kans. 

Strong,  Frank,  Ph.D. 

1903        President  University  of  Kansas,  LawTence,  Kans. 

Strong,  Frank  P.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Kinsley,  Kans. 

Wakefield,  George  C.  ,  ,  „        o    ,,7  n-    .     xr 

1903        Teacher  Sumner  Co.  High  School,  524  N.  Jefferson  St.,  Wellington,  Kans. 

Wilcox,  Alexander  M.,  Ph.D. 

1903         Professor  University  of  Kansas,  1605  Vermont  St.,  Lawrence,  Kans. 

Wilkinson,  Jasper  Newton  .     ^    ^       ■    ^ 

1903  President  Kansas  State  Normal  School,  928  Umon  St.,  Empona,  Kans, 

institutions 
Baker  University  „  ,j  .    ^ 

1904  President,  Lemuel  H.  Murlin,  D.D.,  Baldwin,  Kans. 

University  of  Kansas 

1904        Secretary,  Willis  K.  Folks,  Lawrence,  Kans. 


572  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

KENTUCKY 
Armstrong,  Cecil  J.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  First  Christian  Church,  Winchester,  Ky. 
Dickens,  J.  L.,  Ph.D.,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

1903         Fredonia,  Ky. 

Frost,  William  Goodell,  D.D. 

1903         President  Berea  College,  Berea,  Ky. 

Grinstead,  Wren  J. 

1903  Pastor  Church  of  Christ,  61  Headley  Ave.,  Lexington,  Ky. 

Hampton,  W.J. 

1904  70s  East  Winchester  Ave.,  Ashland,  Ky. 
Hubbell,  George  A.,  Ph.D. 

1903        Vice-President  Berea  College,  Berea,  Ky. 
Jenkins,  Burris  A.,  A.M.,  D.D.  * 

1903         President  Kentucky  University   Lexington.  Ky. 

Maclachlan,  H.  D.  C,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1903        Pastor  Christian  Church,  ShelbyviUe,  Ky. 

Montague,  H.  E. 

1903        Director  Boys'  Work,  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  Louisville,  Ky. 
Mullins,  Edgar  Young,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

1903        President  Southern  Baptist  Theological  Seminary,  Louisville,  Ky. 

RosEVEAR,  Henry  E.  * 

1903        State  Secretary  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  Fourth  and  Broadway  Sts., 
Louisville,  Ky. 

Waddill,  C.  J. 

1903        Attorney  and  Coimselor-at-Law,  Sunday-School  Teacher,  Madisonville,  Ky. 

LOUISIANA 
Abbot,  Walter  B. 

1903        General  Secretary  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  815  Saint  Charles  St. 
New  Orleans,  La. 

Foote,  Henry  W.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  First  Unitarian  Church,  New  Orleans,  La. 

Kent,  John  B.,  Rev. 

1903        Field  Secretary  State  Sunday  School  Association,  Covington,  I^a. 
Miller,  Walter 

1903        Professor  Tulane  University,  New  Orleans,  La. 

Perkins,  R.  W.,  D.D. 

1903         President  Leland  University,  New  Orleans,  La. 

Vaughan,  Robert  W.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  First  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  New  Iberia,  La. 

institutions 
Tulane  University  Library 

1903         Librarian,  M.  M.  Bell,  New  Orleans,  La. 
MAINE 

Anthony,  Alfred  W.,  D.D. 

1903  Professor  Cobb  Divinity  School,  Lewiston,  Maine 
Briggs,  James  Franklin 

1904  Superintendent  Temperance  Education  Biu-eau,  Kennebunk,  Maine 

Cochrane,  J.  E.,  Rev. 

1903         Springvale,  Maine 

DeGarmo,  Mrs.  E.  A., 

1903        Leader  of  Boys'  Club  Normal  and  Primary  Worker,  127  Emery  St.,  Portland 

Maine 

Denio,  Francis  B.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Professor  Bangor  Theological  Seminary,  347  Hammond  St.,  Bangor,  Maine 
Frost,  Robert  D.,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1903         Bowdoinham,  Maine 

Fulton,  Albert  C,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Kennebunk,  Maine 


THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION  573 

MAINE — Continued 
Gates,  Carl  Martel,  Rev.  * 

1903  Pastor  First  Parish  Congregational  Church,  Saco,  Maine 

Harrington,  Karl  Pomeroy,  A.M. 

1904  Professor  University  of  Maine,  Orono,  Maine 

Hayes,  Benjamin  Francis,  D.D. 

1903         Professor  Cobb  Divinity  School,  8  Mountain  Ave.,  Lewiston,  Maine 

Holmes,  Alice  M.,  B.D. 

1903         Sunday-School  Worker  Maine  Missionary  Society,  Eastport,  Maine 

Howe,  James  Albert,  D.D. 

1903        Dean  Cobb  University,  18  Frye  St.,  Lew;.>^.on,  Maine 
Hyde,  William  DeWitt,  D.D.,  LL.D.  * 

1903        President  Bowdoin  College,  Branswick,  Maine 

Johnson,  Franklin  W.,  A.M. 

1903  Principal  Cobum  Classical  Institute,  6  Dalton  St.,  Waterville,  Maine 

Jump,  Herbert  A.,  Rev. 

1904  Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Brunswick,  Maine 

Krumreig,  E.  L.,  Rev.,  A.M.  * 

1903    Pastor  Baptist  Church,  East  Machias,  Maine 

Marsh,  Edward  L.,  Rev.  * 

1903        Pastor  Congregational  Church,  9  Park  St.,  Waterville,  Maine 

Mason,  Edward  A.  * 

1903        General  Secretary  State  Sunday  School  Association,  Oakland,  Maine 

Metcalf,  L.  H.,  Rev. 

1903        Wells,  Maine 

Perkins,  John  C,  Rev. 

1903        108  High  St.,  Portland,  Maine 

Ropes,  C.  J.  H.,  D.D. 

1903        Professor  Bangor  Theological  Seminary,  m  Hammond  St.,  Bangor,  Maine 

Snow,  B.  P.,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1903         Alfred,  Maine 

Varley,  Arthur,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  Winslow,  Maine 
MARYLAND 
Baldwin,  J.  Mark,  Ph.D.,  LL.D. 

1903  Professor  Johns  Hopkins  University,  Baltimore,  Md. 
Brosnahan,  Timothy,  Rev. 

1904  Professor  Woodstock  College,  Woodstock,  Md. 

Ellicott,  Elizabeth  K. 

1903  Teacher  Bible  Class  in  Friends'  Meeting,  106  Ridgewood  Road,  Roland  Park, 
Md. 

Goucher,  John  F.,  Rev. 

1904  President  Woman's  College,  Baltimore,  Md. 
HOBSON,  A.  A.,  Rev.,  Ph.D. 

1903        Pastor  First  Baptist  Chtirch,  Hyattsville,  Md. 

King,  Mrs.  Aubrey  E.  * 

1903        1901  Park  Ave.,  Baltimore,  Md. 

Reed,  Mrs.  Isaac  N. 

1903  2600  E.  Baltimore  St.,  Baltimore,  Md. 

Smith,  R.  Lynes 

1904  15  E.  Franklin  St.,  Baltimore,  Md. 

Springer,  Ruter  W.,  Rev. 

1903        Chaplain  Artillery  Corps,  United  States  Army,  Fort  Washington,  Md. 
Updegraff,  Harlan,  A.M. 

1903        Principal  Girls'  Latin  School,  24th  and  St.  Paul  Sts.,  Baltimore,  Md. 

VanMeter,  J.  B.  * 

1903         Dean  Woman's  College,  Baltimore,  Md. 

VanSickle,  James  H.,  A.M. 

1903        Superintendent  of  Instruction,  612  Reservoir  St.,  Baltimore,  Md. 


574  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

MARYLAND^Continued 

institutions 
Johns  Hopkins  University 

1904         President,  Ira  Remsen,  M.D.,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.,  Baltimore,  Md. 

MASSACHUSETTS 
Abercrombie,  D.  W.,  LL.D. 

1903         Principal  Worcester  Academy, Worcester,  Mass. 

Andrews,  Ellen 

1903         Principal  New  Church  Correspondence  School,  66  Mt.  Vernon  St.,  Boston 
Mass. 

Anthony,  Mary  B. 

1903         Diocesan  President  Girls'  Friendly  Society  in  Rhode  Island,  City  Mills,  Mass. 

Antrim,  Eugene  M.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Trinity  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  37  Edwards  St.,  Springfield,  Mass. 

Bailey,  Albert  E. 

1903         Head  Master  Allen  School,  447  Waltham  St.,  West  Newton,  Mass. 

Bailey,  Henry  Turner 

1903         Agent  Massachusetts  State  Board  of  Education,  North  Scituate,  Mass. 

Baldwin,  William  A. 

1903         Principal  Hyannis  Normal  School,  Hyannis,  Mass. 

Ballantine,  William  G.,  D.D.,  LL.D.  * 

1903         Instructor  Bible,  International  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  Training 
School,  321   St.  James  Ave.,  Springfield,  Mass. 

Barker,  Herbert  A. 

1903         9  Chestnut  Square,  Jamaica  Plain,  Mass. 

Barnes,  Lemuel  C,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903  Pastor  First  Baptist  Church,  Worcester,  Mass. 

Barry,  Corinna 

1904  Public-School  Teacher,  s  Bowdoin  Ave.,  Dorchester,  Mass. 

Bassett,  Austin  B.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  East  Congregational  Church,  51  Church  St.,  Ware,  Mass. 

Bates,  Walter  C. 

1903         Sunday-School  Oflficer,  94  Green  St.,  Jamaica  Plain,  Mass. 

Batt,  William  J.,  Rev. 

1903         Chaplain  Massachusetts  Reformatory,  Concord  Junction,  Mass. 

Beatley,  Mrs.  Clara  Bancroft 

1903  Superintendent  Sunday  School,  Disciple  Church  (Unitarian),  11  Wabon  St. 
Roxbury,  Mass. 

Beebe,  Frank  * 

1904  326  Maple  St.,  Holyoke,  Mass. 

BissELL,  Flint  M.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  St.  Paul's  Universalist  Church,  149  High  St.,  Springfield;  Mass. 

BiXBY,  James  T.,  Rev. 

1903        Hubbardston,  Mass. 
Blakeslee,  Erastus,  Rev.  t* 

1903  Editor  "Bible  Study  Union  Lessons,"  95  South  St.,  Boston,  Mass. 

Blanchard,  Henry,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1904  Pastor  First  UniversaUst  Church,  1 1  Tudor  St.,  Lynn,  Mass. 

Boiojen,  Anna  H. 

1903         Bible-School  Teacher,  326  N.  Main  St.,  Fall  River,  Mass. 

Bowne,  Borden  P.,  Ph.D.,  LL.D. 

1903         Professor  Boston   University,  Dean  Graduate   School,   380  Longwood  Ave. 
Boston,  Mass. 

Boynton,  George  M.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903         Secretary  Congregational  Sunday  School  and  Publishing  Society,  14  Beacon 
St.,  Boston,  Mass. 

Bradford,  Emery  L.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Congregational  Church,  East  Weymouth,  Mass. 
Bragdon,  C.  C. 

1903        Principal  Lasell  Seminary,  Auburndale,  Mass. 


THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION  575 

MASSACUIJSETTS— Continued 
BratthwaiTf,  E.  Ernest,  A.M.,  Ph.D.  * 

1904         Pastor  Congregational  Church,  37  Walden  St.,  Cambridge,  Mass. 

Branch,  EIrnest  William  * 

1904         Superintendent  Bethany  Congregational  Bible  School,  72  Putnam  St.,  Quincy, 
Mass. 

Brand,  Charles  A.,  Rev. 

1903        Assoc.  Editor  Pilgrim  Press  PubUcatir ns,  14  Beacon  St.,  Boston,  Mass. 

Breyfogle,  Caroline  M.,  A.B. 

1903        Assoc.  Professor  Wellesley  College,  Wellesley,  Mass. 

Bridgman,  Howard  A.,  Rev.  * 

1903         Managing  Editor  "The  Congregationalist,"  14  Beacon  St.,  Boston,  Mass. 

BuMSTEAD,  Arthur,  Ph.D. 

1903         Private  Preparatory  Instruction,  22  Greenville  St.,  Ro.xbury,  Mass. 

Burr,  Everett  D.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903         Pastor  First  Baptist  Church,  Newton  Centre,  Mass. 

Bushnell,  Samuel  C,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Arlington,  Mass. 

Butler,  Frank  E.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Congregational  Church,  South  Hadley  Falls,  Mass. 

Capen,  S.-vmuel  B.,  A.m.,  LL.D. 

1903         President  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions,  350  Wash- 
ington St.,  Boston,  Mass. 

Carter,  Charles  F.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Hancock  Congregational  Church,  Le.xington,  Mass. 
Carter,  John  F.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  St.  John's  Church,  WiUiamstown,  Mass. 

Carter,  Mrs.  H.  H., 

1903         Teacher  New  Church  Sabbath  School,  161  Highland  Ave.,  Newtonville,  Mass. 

Carter,  Richard  B. 

1903         Superintendent  Sunday  School,  315  Otis  St.,  West  Newton,  Mass. 

Chalmers,  Andrew  B.,  Rev. 

1903        Worcester,  Mass. 

Chamberlain,  George  D. 

1903        Sunday-School  Teacher,  146  Mill  St.,  Springfield,  Mass. 

Chandler,  Edward  H.,  Rev. 

1903        Secretary  "Twentieth  Century  Club,"  2  Ashburton  Place,  Boston,  Mass. 
Clarke,  Lillian  Freeman 

1903        Study-Class  Work  in  Woman's  Alliance.  91  Mt.  Vernon  St.,  Boston,  Mass. 

CuMMiNGS,  Edward,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  South  Congregational  Church  (Unitarian)  of  Bo.ston,   104  Irving  St. 
Cambridge,  Mass. 

Dale,  Mrs.  Eben 

903         Sunday-School   Teacher   Arlington   St.    Unitarian   Church,    192    Beacon   St. 
Boston,  Mass. 

Davis,  Albert  P.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  18  Church  St.,  Wakefield,  Mass. 

Davis,  Gilbert  G. 

1903         Superintendent  Bible  School,  3S  Front  St.,  Worcester,  Mass. 

Davis,  William  V.  W.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903         First  Church  of  Christ,  Pittsfield,  Mass. 

Day,  Charles  O.,  D.D. 

1903         President  Andover  Theological  Seminary,  Andover,  Mass. 

Dike,  Samuel  W.,  Rev.,  LL.D. 

1903  General  Secretary  National  League  for  Protection  of  the  Family,  113  Hancock 
St.,  Auburndale,  Mass. 

DiNGWELL,  James,  Rev. 

1904  Leicester,  Mass. 

DiNGWELL,  James  D.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Main  Street  Congregational  Church,  Amesbury,  Mass 


576  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

MASS  ACHU  SETTS— Cow/zwwe^ 
Dixon,  Joseph  L. 

1903         Superintendent   Sunday  School,  Leader  Boys'   Club  Work,  22   Beltram  St. 
Maiden,  Mass. 

DoGGETT,  L.  L.,  Ph.D.  * 

1903         President  International  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  Training  School 
Springfield,  Mass. 

Donald,  E.  Winchester,  Rev.,  D.D.,  LL.D.i 

1903         Rector  Trinity  Church,  233  Clarendon  St.,  Boston,  Mass. 

DuMM,  B.  Alfred,  Rev.,  Ph.D. 

1903         Pastor  Congregational  Church,  19  WiUiams  St.,  Stoneham,  Mass. 

Dunning,  Albert  E.,  D.D.  * 

1903         Editor  "The  Congregationalist,"  14  Beacon  St.,  Boston,  Mass. 

Eliot,  Samuel  A.,  Rev.,  D.D.  * 

1903        President  American  Unitarian  Association,  2S  Beacon  St.,  Boston  Mass. 

Endicott,  Eugene  F.,  LL.D. 

1903        General  Agent  Universalist  Publishing  House,  30  West  St.,  Boston,  Mass. 
Evans,  Daniel,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  North  Avenue  Congregational  Church,  105  Raymond  St.,  Cambridge 
Mass. 

Faucon,  Catherine  W.  J 

1903        Milton,  Mass. 

Field  EN,  Joseph  F.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  First  Baptist  Church,  Winchendon,  Mass. 

Fisher,  Mrs.  Angie  B.  J 

1903        48  Falmouth  St.,  Boston,  Mass. 

Fletcher,  William  I.,  A.M. 

1903         Librarian  Amherst  College,  Amherst,  Mass. 

Flint,  George  H.,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1903        Pastor  Central  Congregational  Church,  loi  Tonawanda  St.,  Dorchester,  Mass. 

FooTE,  Arthur 

1903        Dedham,  Mass. 
FoRBUSH,  William  B.,  Rev.,  Ph.D.  * 

1903         Pastor  Winthrop  Congregational  Church   21  Elm  St.,  Charlestown,  Mass. 

French,  Henry  H.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  58  Lincoln  St.,  Maiden,  Mass. 

Gates,  Owen  H.,  Rev.,  Ph.D. 

1903         Instructor  Andover  Theological  Seminary,  Andover  Mass. 

Genxjng,  John  F.,  Rev.,  Ph.D.  * 

1903         Professor  Amherst  College,  8  College  St.,  Amherst,  Mass. 

Gibson,  H.  W. 

1903         Boys'  State  Secretary  Young  Men's  Christian  Asssociation  for  Massachusetts 
and  Rhode  Island,  167  Tremont  Temple,  Boston,  Mass. 

Gilbert,  George  H.,  Rev.,  Ph.D.,  D.D. 

1903         Northampton,  Mass. 

Goodrich,  Lincoln  B.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Union  Congregational  Church,  36  Bolton  St.,  Marlboro,  Mass. 
Goodyear,  DeMont,  S.T.B.,  Ph.D.  * 

1903         Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  Abington,  Mass. 

Gregg,  James  Edgar,  Rev.,  A.M.,  B.D. 

1903  Pilgrim  Memorial  Church,  793  North  St.,  Pittsfield,  Mass. 

Greul,  Frederick  B.,  D.D.  * 

1904  Pastor  First  Baptist  Church,  22  Spruce  St.,  Waltham,  Mass. 

Guss,  Roland  W.,  A.M. 

1903        Teacher  State  Normal  School,  405  Church  St.,  North  Adams,  Mass. 
Hale,  Edward  E.,  Rev.,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

1903         Chaplain  of  the  United  States  Senate,  39  Highland  St.,  Roxbury,  Mass. 

Hale,  George  H. 

1903         Superintendent  Third  Congregational  Sunday  School,  381  Main  St.,  Spring- 
field, Mass. 

» Deceased. 


THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION  577 

MASSACHUSETTS— Cotitinued 
Hall,  G.  Stanley,  Ph.D.,  LL.D. 

1904         President  Clark  University,  Worcester,  Mass. 

Hall,  Newton  M.,  Rev. 

1904        Pastor  North  Congregational  Church,  20  Byers  St.,  Springfield,  Mass. 

Hardy,  Edwin  Noah,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Bethany  Congregational  Church,  15  Foster  St.,  Quincy,  Mass. 

Harris,  George,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

1903        President  Amherst  College,  Amherst,  Mass 
Hartshorn,  W.  N. 

1903  Chairman  Executive  Committee  International  Sunday  School  Association,  120 
Boylston  St.,  Boston,  Mass. 

Haslett,  Samuel  B.,  Ph.D.  * 

1904  Pastor  Peoples  Church,  4  Crown  St.,  Worcester,  Mass. 
Hathaway,  Edward  S. 

1903        Bible-CHss  Teacher,  12  Walter  St.,  Hyde  Park,  Mass. 
Haz.xrd,  Caroline,  A.M.,  Litt.D.  * 

1903         President  Wellesley  College,  Wellesley,  Mass. 

Haz.\rd,  M.  C.,  Ph.D.  * 

1903        Editor     Congregational  Sunday-School  Publications,  Congregational  House 
Boston,  Mass. 

Heath,  Daniel  C,  A.M. 

1903        Pubhsher  Books  for  Children,  147  Highland  Ave.,  Newtonville,  Mass. 

Hitchcock,  Albert  W.,  A.M. 

1903         Pastor  Central  Congregational  Church,  Worcester,  M.iss. 

Hoar,  Caroline 

1903        Teacher  First  Parish  Sunday  School  (Unitarian),  Concord,  Mass. 
Hopkins,  Henry  M.,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

1903         President  Williams  College,  Williamstown,  Ma.ss. 

HoRR,  George  E.,  Rev.,  D.D.  * 

1903        Professor  Newton  Theological  Institution,  Newton  Centre,  Mass. 

Howard,  Ethel  L. 

1903        Sunday-School  Teacher,  16  West  St.,  Worcester,  Mass. 

Howard,  Thomas  D.,  Rev. 

1903         99  School  St.,  Springfield,  Mass. 

HoYT,  Henry  N.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Pastor  Congregational  Church,  40  Oak  St.,  Hyde  Park,  Mass. 
HuLiNG,  Ray  Greene,  A.M.,  Sc.D.  ♦ 

1903         Head  Master  English  High  School,  loi  Trowbridge  St.,  Cambridge,  Mass. 

Huntington,  C.  W.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Pastor  High  Street  Congregational  Church,  85  Mansur  St.,  Lowell,  Mass. 
Hyde,  Henry  K. 

1903        President  Ware  National  Bank,  22  Elm  St.,  Ware,  Mass. 
James,  D.  Melancthon,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Church  of  the  Pilgrimage  (Congregational),  140  Court  St.,  Plymouth, 
Mass. 

Johnson,  Arthur  S. 

1903        President    Young    Men's   Christian   Association,   258   CommonweaUh   Ave., 
Boston,  Mass. 

Keedy,  John  L.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Walpole,  Mass. 

Kendrick,  Eliza  H.,  Ph.D. 

1903         Instructor  Wellesley  College   45  Hunnewell  Ave.,  Newton,  Mass. 

Kenngott,  George  P.,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1903         First  Trinitarian  Congregational  Church,  296  Liberty  St.,  Lowell,  Mass. 

KiLBON,  John  Luther,  Rev. 

1903  Pastor  Park  Congregational  Church,  323  St.  James  Ave.,  Springfield,  Mass. 

Kimball,  Hannah  Parker 

1904  Author,  317  Beacon  St.,  Boston,  Mass. 

Knight,  Joseph  King,  D.D.S. 

1904        Sunday-School  Superintendent,  145  W.  River  St.,  Hyde  Park,  Mass. 


578  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

MASSACHUSETTS— Continued 
Knowles,  Richard,  Rev.,  Ph.D.  * 

1904        Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Wellfleet,  Mass. 

Lauderbaum,  Frederic  Curtiss 

1904        Curate  All  Saints'  Episcopal  Church,  i  Irving  St.,  Worcester,  Mass. 

Lawrence,  William,  Rt.  Rev.,  D.D.,  S.T.D. 

1903         Bishop  of  Massachusetts,  101  Brattle  St.,  Cambridge,  Mass. 

Leonard,  Mary  Hall 

1903         Rochester,  Mass. 

Lincoln,  Howard  A.  J 

1903         Student  Andover  Theological  Seminary,  Andover,  Mass. 

Little,  Arthur,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903         Pastor  Second  Congregational  Church,  Dorchester,  Mass. 

Locke,  Adelaide  I.,  A.B.,  S.T.B. 

1903        Assoc.  Professor  Wellesley  College,  28  Dover  St.,  Wellesley,  Mass. 

Logan,  John  W. 

1903        Hyde  Park,  Mass. 
Macfarland,  Charles  S.,  Rev.,  Ph.D. 

1903        Pastor  Maplewood  Congregational  Church,  472  Salem  St.,  Maiden,  Mass, 
Means,  Frederick  H.,  Rev.  * 

1903         Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Winchester,  Mass. 

Mehaffey,  George  W. 

1903  General  Secretary  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  Boston  Mass. 

Merriam,  Edmund  F.,  Rev.,  D.D.  * 

1904  Editor  "The  Watchman"  (Baptist),  501  Tremont  Temple,  Boston,  Mass. 

Merrick,  Frank  W.,  Rev.,  Ph.D. 

1903        Pastor  South  EvangeUcal  Church  (Congregational),  122  Beach  St.,  West  Rox- 
bury,  Mass. 

Merrill,  Charles  C,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  North  Congregational  Church,  Winchendqn,  Mass. 

Merriman,  Daniel,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903  Pastor  (Emeritus)  Central  Church,  Worcester,  Mass. 

Mitchell,  Hinckley  G.,  Ph.D.,  S.T.D. 

1904  Professor  Boston  University,  29  West  Cedar  St.,  Boston^  Mass. 

Moore,  Caroline  Sheldon,  A.B. 

1903        Instructor  Mt.  Holyoke  College,  South  Hadley,  Mass. 

Moore,  Edward  C,  D.D. 

1903        Professor  Harvard  University,  15  Lowell  St.,  Cambridge,  Mass. 

Moore,  Mabel  Reynolds 

1903        Leader  Bible  Class,  Episcopal  Church,  25  Catherine  St.,  Worcester,  Mass. 

MosHER,  George  F.,  LL.D. 

1903         Editor  "Morning  Star."  437  Shawmut  Ave.,  Boston,  Mass. 

MoxoM,  Philip  S.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Pastor  South  Congregational  Church,  83  Dartmouth  Terrace,  Springfield,  Mass. 

Nash,  C.  Ellwood,  A.M.,  D.D. 

30  West  St.,  Boston,  Mass. 
Nash,  Henry  Sylvester,  D.D. 

1903  Professor  Episcopal  Theological  School,  Cambridge,  Mass. 

Neilson,  Nellie,  Ph.D. 

1904  Acting  Professor  Mt.  Holyoke  College,  South  Hadley,  Mass. 

Newhall,  Alfred  A.,  A.M. 

1903         637  Main  St.,  Woburn,  Mass. 

Noyes,  Edward  M.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  First  Congregational  Church  in  Newton,  136  Warren  St.,  Newton  Centre 
Mass. 
Noyes,  Henry  D.  t 

1903        Treasurer  Bible  Study  PubUshing  Co.,  Sunday-School  Teacher,  95  South  St., 
Boston,.  Mass. 

Packard,  Annie  E., 

1903        1908  Beacon  St.,  Boston,  Mass. 

Parker,  Frederic  C.  W.,  Rev. 

1903   ■     Asst.  Pastor  Tremont  Temple,  Boston,  Mass. 


THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION  579 

MASSACHUSETTS— Co«//«Me(i 
Patten,  Arthur  B.,  Rev. 

1903  Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  South  Hadley,  Mass. 
Peabody,  Endicott,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1904  Head  Master  Groton  School,  Groton,  Mass. 

Peabody,  Francis  G.,  D.D.  * 

1903        Dean  Divinity  School,  Harvard  University,  13  Kirkland  St.,  Cambridge,  Mass. 
Peloubet,  Francis  N.,  Rev.,  D.D.  * 

1903         Author  "Peloubet's  Select  Notes  on  the  Sunday-School  Lessons,"  132  Wood- 
land Road,  Auburndale,  Mass. 

Perry,  C.  H. 

1903         Superintendent  Congregational  Bible  School,  Stockbridge,  Mass. 

Phelps,  Lawrence,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Leominster,  Mass. 

PiNKHAM,  George  R.,  A.M. 

1903         Head  Master  Searles  High  School,  Great  Barrington,  Mass. 

Place,  Charles  A. 

1903         Minister  First  Parish  Church,  Waltham,  Mass. 

Potter,  Ernest  T.,  Rev. 

1903        Newton  Theological  Institution,  Newton  Centre,  Mass. 

Power,  Charles  W. 

1903  Superintendent  First  Congregational  Sunday  School,  Pittsfield,  Mass. 
Rath,  James  A. 

1904  Y.  M.  C.  A.  Worker,  Student  International  Training  School,  Springfield,  Mass. 

Redfield,  Isabella  T. 

1903         Sunday-School  Worker,  290  South  St.,  Pittsfield,  Mass. 

Reed,  David  Allen 

1903         736  State  St.,  Springfield,  Mass. 

Rhoades,  Winfred  C,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Eliot  Congregational  Church,  The  Warren,  Roxbury,  Mass. 

Rice,  Charles  F.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903         Pastor  Wesley  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  156  Harvard  Ave.,  Springfield, 

Mass. 

Rice,  Walter,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Congregational  Church,  179  Main  St.,  Agawam,  Mass. 

Roberts,  W.  Dewee 

1903         115  Trenton  St.,  East  Boston,  Mass. 

Rogers,  Dwight  Leete 

1903         Secretary  State  Executive  Committee  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations  of 
Massachusetts  and  Rhode  Island,  167  Tremont  St.,  Boston,  Mass. 

Ropes,  James  Hardy 

1903         Professor  Harvard  University,  13  Pollen  St.,  Cambridge,  Mass. 

Ropes,  William  Ladd,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1903         Librarian  Andover  Theological  Seminary,  71  Bartlett  St.,  Andover,  Mass. 

Rowley,  Francis  H.,  D.D. 

1903         Pastor  First  Baptist  Church,  Boston,  Mass. 

Seelye,  L.  Clark,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

1903  President  Smith  College,  Northampton,  Mass. 

Shaw,  James  A.,  Rev. 

1904  Whitman,  Mass. 

Shaw,  William  ■)•* 

1903         Treasurer  United  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor,  Tremont  Temple,  Boston 
Mass. 

Shipman,  Frank  R.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  South  Congregational  Church,  Andover,  Mass. 

Sleeper,  W.  W.,  Rev. 

1903         Wellesley,  Mass. 

S.mith,  Albert  D.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Northboro,  Mass. 

Smith,  Henry  Preserved,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903         Professor  Amherst  College,  10  College  St.,  Amherst,  Mass. 


58o  THE  REI.IGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

MASSACHUSETTS— CoM/mwec/ 
Snyder,  William  H. 

1903        Instructor  Worcester  Academy,  12s  Penn  Ave.,  Worcester,  Mass. 

Stevens,  Charles  E.,  A.M. 

1903        Superintendent  Public  Schools,  9  Cedar  Ave.,  Stoneham,  Mass. 
Stoops,  J.  Dashiell,  Rev.,  Ph.D. 

1903        Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Easthampton,  Mass. 

Sutton,  Edwin  O. 

1903  Asst.  Manager  Life  Insurance  Office,  115  High  St.,  Springfield,  Mass. 
Swain,  Edith  L.,  A.B. 

1904  Vice-Principal  High  School,  Southworth  Ave.,  Williamstown,  Mass. 

Swan,  Mrs.  Joshua  A. 

1903         Sunday-School  Teacher,  167  Brattle  St.,  Cambridge,  Mass. 

Thomas,  Reuen,  Rev.,  Ph.D.,  D.D. 

1903        Pastor  Harvard  Congregational  Church,  Rawson  Road,  Brookline,  Mass. 

Thurber,  Charles  H.,  Ph.D. 

1903        Messrs.  Ginn  &  Co.,  29  Beacon  St.,  Boston,  Mass. 

Tower,  Wm.  Hogarth,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  First  Presbyterian  Chiuch,  22  Gilbert  St.,  South  Framingham,  Mass. 

Vandermark,  Wilson  E.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  St.  James  Methodist   Episcopal  Church,  31  Waverly  St.,  Springfield, 

Mass. 

Vinton,  Alexander  H.,  Rt.  Rev. 

1903  Bishop  Diocese  of  Western  Massachusetts,  1154  Worthington  St.,  Springfield, 
Mass. 

VoGT,  VonOgden 

1904  General  Secretary  Christian  Endeavor  Society,  Tremont  Temple,  Boston,  Mass. 

Voorhees,  J.  Spencer,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1903         Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Adams,  Mass. 

Ware,  Louie  Erville 

1903  120  Boylston  St.,  Boston,  Mass. 

Wells,  Amos  R.  * 

1904  Editor  "Christian  Endeavor  World,"  40  Auburn  Place,  Aubumdale,  Mass. 

Wheeler,  Carleton  Ames 

1904        Graduate  Student  Harvard  University.  14  Kirkland  Place,  Cambridge,  Mass. 

Wheeler,  E.  C,  Rev. 

1903  Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  Rockland,  Mass. 

Whittemore,  William  F. 

1904  850  Beacon  St.,  Boston,  Mass. 

Wilder,  Herbert  A.  t 

1903         53  Fairmount  Ave.,  Newton,  Mass. 

Williams,  Appleton  P.  * 

1903         President  Massachusetts  Sunday  School  Association,  West  Upton,  Mass. 

Williamson,  James  S.,  Rev. 

1903  North  Congregational  Church,  Haverhill,  Mass. 

Winkley,  Samuel  H.,  Rev. 

1904  II  Louisburg  Sq.,  Boston,  Mass. 

Winship,  a.  E.,  Ph.D. 

1903        Editor  "Journal  of  Education,"  29  Beacon  St.,  Boston,  Mass. 

Wood,  Irving  F.,  Ph.D. 

1903        Professor  Smith  College,  Northampton,  Mass. 

WOODBRIDGE,  RiCHARD   G.,   ReV. 

1903        Pastor  Prospect  Hill  Congregational  Church,  13  Pleasant  Ave.,  Somerville, 

Mass. 

WooDROW,  Samuel  H.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Hope  Congregational  Chiu-ch,  20  Buckingham  St.,  Springfield,  Mass 

Woolley,  Mary  E.,  Litt.D.  * 

1903        President  Mt.  Holyoke  College,  South  Hadley,  Mass. 

Wright,  Theodore  F.,  Ph.D. 

1903        Hon.  Secretary  Palestine  Exploration   Fund  for  America,  Dean  New  Church 
Theological  School,  42  Quincy  St.,  Cambridge,  Mass. 


THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION  581 

MASSACUVSETTS— Continued 
Wriston,  Henry  L.,  Rev. 

1903  Pastor  Asbury  First  Methodist  Episcojxil  Church,  52  Florence  St.,  Springfield 
Mass. 

ZiEGLER,  Charles  L. 

1904  Musical  Editor  Congregational  Hynuials,  i  Ellis  St.,  Roxbury,  Mass. 

institutions 
Boston  University,  School  of  Theology 

1904        72  Mt.  Vernon  St.,  Boston,  Mass. 

Congregational    Sunday  School  Superintendents'  Union  of  Boston  and 
Vicinity 

1904         President,  Edward  S.  Hathaway,  Hyde  Park,  Mass. 

Episcopal  Theological  School 

1903         Librarian,  Miss  Edith  D.  Fuller,  Cambridge,  Mass. 

Harvard  College  Library 

1903         Librarian,  William  C.  Lane,  Cambridge,  Mass. 

Harvard  University  Divinity  School 

1903  Secretary,  Robert  S.  Morison,  Cambridge,  Mass. 

Mount  Holyoke  College 

1904  President,  Miss  Mary  E.  Woolley,  Litt.D.,  South  Hadley,  Mass. 

South  Congregational  Sunday  School 

1903         Secretary,  Miss  Alice  J.  Johnson,  Newberry  and  Exeter  Sts.,  Boston,  Mass. 

South  Congregational  Young  People's  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor 

1903         Pastor,  Rev.  Philip  S.  Moxom,  D.D.,  Springfield,  Mass. 

Wellesley  College 

1903  President,  Miss  Caroline  M.  Hazard,  A.M.,  Litt.D.,  WeUesley,  Mass. 

MICHIGAN 
Alexander,  A.  O.,  Rev. 

1904  Pastor  Congregational  Church,  317  Park  St.,  Owosso,  Mich. 

Angell,  James  B.,  LL.D. 

1903         President  University  of  Michigan,  Ann  Arbor,  Mich. 

Bacon,  Theodore  D.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Congregational  Church,  708  Grand  Traverse  St.,  Flint,  Mich. 

Barr,  Alfred  H.,  Rev. 

1903         Pa.<;tor  Jefferson  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church,  567  E.  Congress  St.,  Detroit 
Mich. 

Beach,  Arthuh  G.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Congregational  Church,  214  N.  Adams  St.,  Ypsilanti,  Mich. 

Beardslee,  John  W.,  A.M.,  D.D. 

1903         Professor  Western  Theological  Seminary,  26  E.  12th  St.,  Holland,  Mich. 

Bement,  Howard 

1903         Teacher  Plymouth  Congregational  Sunday  School,  617  Ottawa  St.,  Lansing 
Mich. 

Bliss,  Frederick  Leroy 

1903         Principal  Detroit  University  School,  Detroit,  Mich. 

Bowles,  George  C,  D.D.S. 

1903         Superintendent  Unitarian  Sunday  School,  924  Cass  Ave.,  Detroit,  Mich. 

Boynton,  Nehemiah,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903  Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  Detroit,  Mich. 
BUELL,  L.   E. 

1904  State   Secretary  Young   Men's  Christian  Association,  2012  Washnetaw  Ave. 
Ann  Arbor,  Mich. 

BuRTT,  Benjamin  H.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  109  N.  Harrison  St.,  Ludington,  Mich. 

Carter,  Ferdinand  E.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Second  Congregational  Church,  339  Palmer  .\ve..  Grand  Rapids,  Mich. 

Clark,  Henry  F. 

1903        Bible-Class  Teacher,  335  Lincoln  Ave..  Detroit,  Mich. 


S82  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

MICHIGAN— Continued 

CoLER,  George  P. 

1903        Instructor  Ann  Arbor  Bible  Chairs,  Ann  Arbor,  Mich. 

Collin,  Henry  P.,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1903        Pastor  First  Presbyterian  Church  (Independent),  58  Division  St.,  Coldwater 
Mich. 

Daniels,  Eva  J. 

1903        Sunday-School  Teacher,  342  E.  Fulton  St.,  Grand  Rapids,  Mich. 

Dascomb,  H.  N.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  Port  Huron,  Mich. 

Deforest,  Heman  P.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Pastor  Woodward  Avenue  Congregational  Church,  16  Charlotte  Ave.,  Detroit, 
Mich. 

Elliott,  George,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Pastor  Central  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  15  E.  Adams  Ave.,  Detroit,  Mich. 

EwiNG,  William,  Rev.  * 

1903        State  Superintendent  Congregational  Sunday  School  and  PubUshing  Society, 
504  HoUister  Block,  Lansing,  Mich. 

Finster,  Clarence,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Grand  Haven,  Mich. 

Fischer,  William  J. 

1903        Director  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  106  Edmund  PL,  Detroit,  Mich. 

Foster,  Edward  D.  J 

1903  Detroit,  Mich. 

Gelston,  Joseph  Mills,  Rev. 

1904  Pastor  Presbyterian  Church,  326  So.  Division  St.,  Ann  Arbor,  Mich. 

Goodrich,  Frederic  S.,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1903        Professor  Albion  College,  1000  E.  Porter  St.,  Albion   Mich. 

Gray,  Clifton  D.,  Rev.,  Ph.D. 

1903         Pastor  First  Baptist  Church,  Port  Huron,  Mich. 

Hadden,  Archibald,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903         Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  Muskegon,  Mich. 

Hammond,  Frank  E. 

1903        Superintendent  First  Congregational  Bible  School,  119  Houston  Ave.,  Muske- 
gon, Mich. 

Hassold,  F.  a.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Lake  Linden,  Mich. 

Herrick,  Jullien  a.,  Rev.,  Ph.D. 

1903         Pastor  First  Baptist  Chinch,  Bay  City,  Mich. 

Inglis,  James  Gale,  Rev.  * 

1903         Pastor  First  Presbyterian  Church,  1014  Center  Ave.,  Bay  City,  Mich, 

Lake,  E.  M.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  First  Baptist  Church,  Lansing,  Mich. 

Mauck,  Joseph  W.,  A.M.,  LL.D. 

1903  President  Hillsdale  College,  Hillsdale,  Mich. 

McCollester,  Lee  S.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1904  Pastor  Church  of  Our  Father,  554  John  R.  St.,  Detroit,  Mich. 

McLaughlin,  Robert  W.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903         Pastor  Park  Congregational  Church,  Grand  Rapids,  Mich. 

Meeser,  Spenser  B.,  Rev.,  D.D.  * 

1903        Pastor  Woodward  Avenue  Baptist  Church,  46  Woodvfard  Ave.  Terrace,  Detroit, 
Mich. 

Morris,  S.  T.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Park  Congi egational  Church,  Grand  Rapids,  Mich. 

Neill,  Henry,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1903         Pastor  Presbyterian  Church,  Harbor  Springs,  Mich. 

Oakley,  E.  Clarence,  Rev. 

1903         Editor  "Plymouth  Weekly,"  501  Putnam  Ave.,  Detroit,  Mich. 

Patchell,  Chas.  T.,  Rev.  * 

1903         Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Bay  City,  Mich. 

Perey,  Ernest  B.,  M.E. 

1903         Superintendent  Industrial  Works,  1515  Fifth  St.,  Bay  City,  Mich. 


THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION  583 

MICHIGAN— Continued 
Puffer,  William  Martin,  A.M.,  D.D. 

1903        Pastor  First  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  420  Cedar  Ave.,  Kalamazoo,  Mich 

Randall,  J.  Herman,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Fountain  Street  Church,  38  Terrace  Ave.,  Grand  Rapids,  Mich. 

Rogers,  Joseph  M.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Presbyterian  Church,  517  Spruce  St.,  Marquette,  Mich. 

Searle,  Frederick  E. 

1903         Teacher  University  School,  1023  Jefferson  Ave.,  Detroit,  Mich. 

Stoneman,  Albert  H.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Plymouth  Congregational  Church,  265  Bates  St.,  Grand  Rapids,  Mich. 

Stowell,  C.  B. 

1903         Sunday-School  Teacher,  President  Board  of  Education,  Hudson,  Mich. 

Stowell,  Myron  C. 

1903         Superintendent  First  Congregational  Sunday  School,  255  Merrick  Ave.,  Detroit 
Mich. 

Sutherland,  John  W.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903  Pastor  North  Congregational  Church,  81  Euclid  Ave.,  Detroit,  Mich. 

Sweet,  Franklin  W.,  Rev. 

1904  Pastor  First  Baptist  Church,  Adrian,  Mich. 

TuLLER,  Edward  P.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  First  Baptist  Church,  491  Third  Ave.,  Detroit,  Mich. 

VanKirk,  Robert  W.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  First  Baptist  Church,  Jackson,  Mich. 

Vinton,  G.  Jay 

1903         Builder,  63  Stimson  PI.,  Detroit,  Mich. 

Wallin,  V.  A.  t 

1903         Wallin  Leather  Co.,  loi  N.  Lafayette  St.,  Grand  Rapids,  Mich. 

Warren,  Edward  K.  t 

1903         Chairman  Executive  Committee  World's  Sunday  School  Convention  for  1904, 
Superintendent  Congregational  Sunday  School,  Tliree  Oaks,  Mich. 

Warriner,  Eugene  C. 

1903         Superintendent  of  Schools,  Saginaw,  Mich. 

Wenley,  Robert  M.,  Sc.D.,  Ph.D.,  LL.D. 

1903         Professor  University  of  Michigan,  509  E.  Madison  St.,  Ann  Arbor,  Mich. 

Wheeler,  Clara 

1903  Secretary  Grand  Rapids  Kindergarten  and  Training  School,  23  Fountain  St.| 
Grand  Rapids,  Mich. 

Wright,  W.  K.,  Rev. 

1904  Traverse  City,  Mich. 

MINNESOTA 

Beard,  Harington  * 

1903         Beard  Art  and  Stationery  Co.,  624  Nicollet  Ave.,  Minneapolis,  Minn. 

Boynton,  Richard  W.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Unity  Church,  414  Ashland  Ave.,  St.  Paul,  Minn. 

Crandall,  Lathan  a..  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903         Pastor  Trinity  Baptist  Church,  Minneapolis,  Minn. 

Fowler,  Arthur  Thomas,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Pastor  Calvary  Baptist  Church,  260S  Blaisdell  Ave.,  Minneapohs,  Minn. 

Gilchrist,  Neil  A.,  Rev. 

1903         1907  Washington  Ave.  North,  Minneapolis,  Minn. 

Hallock,  Leavitt  H.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903         Pastor  Plymouth  Congregational  Church,  cor.  Eighth  St.  and  Nicollet  Ave. 
Minneapolis.  Minn. 

Heermance,  Edgar  L.,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1903         Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  Mankato,  Minn. 

Holmes,  L.  P.,  Rev. 

1903         St.  Johns  Church,  Lake  Benton,  Minn. 

iNNis,  Geo.  S.,  Ph.D.,  D.D. 

1903         Professor  Hamline  University,  President  College  Section  Minnesota  Educational 
Association,  St.  Paul,  Minn. 


584  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

MINNESOTA— Cow^mweti 
Lyman,  Eugene  W. 

1903         Professor  Carleton  College,  Northfield,  Minn. 

Lyman,  Frederick  W. 

1903         Superintendent  Plymouth  Congregational  Sunday  School,  500  Groveland  Ave. 
Minneapohs,  Minn. 

Merrill,  George  R.,  D.D.  * 

1903         Superintendent  Minnesota  Congregational  Home  Missionary  Society,  22j  W. 
15th  St.,  Minneapohs,  Minn. 

Metcalf,  Paul  H.,  Rev. 

1903         Central  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  Minneapolis,  Minn. 

Norton,  William  Wellington 

1903         2447  Girard  Ave.  South,  Minneapohs,  Minn. 

Pope,  Edward  R.,  Rev. 

1903         Superintendent  Baptist  State  Missions,  701  Lumber  Exchange,  Minneapohs 
Minn. 

Pressey,  Edwin  S.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  St.  Anthony  Park  Congregational  Church,  2261  Gordon  Ave.,  St.  Paul 

Minn. 

Prucha,  Vaclav,  Rev. 

1903         Silver  Lake,  Minn. 

Robbins,  Mrs.  D.  R. 

1903         243  Summit  Ave.,  St.  Paul,  Minn. 

Rollins,  G.  S.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Park  Avenue  Congregational  Church,  2405  Portland  Ave.,  Minneapolis 
Minn. 

Sallmon,  William  H.,  A.M.  * 

1903  President  Carleton  College,  Northfield,  Minn. 

Scott,  L.  G.  J 

1904  40  Highland  Ave.,  Minneapwlis,  Minn. 

Scott,  Mrs.  L.  G.  J 

1904        40  Highland  Ave.,  Minneapolis,  Minn. 

Shepard,  Elgin  R. 

1903         Sunday-School  Teacher,  2931  Portland  Ave.,  Minneapolis,  Minn. 

Smith,  Charles  Alden,  A.M. 

1903  Principal  Central  High  School,  Hunter's  Park,  Duluth,  Minn. 

Smith,  Samuel  G.,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

1904  Pastor  People's  Church,  Professor  University  of  Minnesota,  125  College  Ave. 
St.  Paul,  Minn. 

Strong,  James  W.,  D.D. 

1903         Formerly  President  Carleton  College,  Northfield,  Minn. 

Sutherland,  J.  B. 

1903         Sunday-School  Teacher,  2633  Portland  Ave.,  Miimeapolis,  Minn. 

Thomas,  Percy,  Rev. 

1903        Winona,  Minn. 

Van  Wagoner,  Charles  D.,  Rev. 

1903         Russell,  Minn. 

Wallar,  W.  C.  a..  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Little  Falls,  Minn. 

White,  Ada  E. 

1903         Teacher  Central  High  School,  Teacher  Plymouth  Sunday  School,  2734  Garfield 
Ave.,  Minneapolis,  Minn. 

Young,  Ernest  W.,  LL.M. 

1903         Sunday-School  Superintendent,  Room  416,  P.  O.  Bldg.,  St.  Paul,  Minn. 

institutions 
Plymouth  Congregational  Sunday  School 

1903         Superintendent,   Frederick   W.  Lyman,   500   Groveland   Ave.,   Minneapolis 
Minn. 


MISSISSIPPI 


Brown,  J.  W.  H.,  Rev. 

1903         Artonish,  Miss. 


THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION  585 

MISSISSIPPI— Continued 
Foster,  Mrs.  William  W.,  Jr. 

1904         Rust  Universityj  Holly  Springs,  Miss. 

Fulton,  Robert  B.,  A.M.,  LL.D. 

1903  Chancellor  University  of  Mississippi,  University,  Miss. 

Hunter,  John  D.,  Rev. 

1904  Pastor  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church,  Tupelo,  Miss. 

Owen,  Samuel  H.  C,  A.M. 

1903        President  Natchez  College,  Natchez,  Miss. 

Stamps,  C.  T.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Missionary  Union  Baptist  Church,  No.  loih  St.  and  2d  Ave^  Columbus,  Miss. 

Sydenstricker,  Hiram  M.,  Rev.,  A.M.,  Ph.D. 

1903        Pastor  Presbyterian  Church,  Corinth,  Miss. 


MISSOURI 

Allen,  L.  L. 

1903  Pierce  City,  Mo. 

Baird,  W.  T. 

1904  Kirksville.  Mo. 

Bates,  George  E.,  Rev. 

1903  Pastor  Congregational  Church  of  the  Covenant,  Maplewood,  Mo. 

Bernard,  Taylor,  Rev. 

1904  Financial  Agent  Missouri  Valley  College,  5023  Fairmount  Ave.   St.  Louis,  Mo. 

Bishop,  C.  M.,  Rev.,  D.D.  - 

1903         Pastor  Francis  Street  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  615  Francis  St. 
St.  Joseph,  Mo. 

Bolt,  William  W.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Congregational  Church,  1421  Felix  St.,  St.  Joseph,  Mo. 

Bullard,  Henry  N.,  Rev.,  Ph.D. 

1903        Pastor  First  Presbyterian  Church,  Mound  City,  Mo. 

Bushnell,  Albert,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903  Pastor  Clyde  Congregational  Church,  2111  E.  13th  St..  Kansas  City,  Mo. 

Darby,  William  Lambert,  Rev. 

1904  Kirks ville.  Mo. 

Dunlop,  J.  D. 

1903        Chief  Clerk  Bureau  of  Building  and  Loan  Supervision.  Jefferson  City,  Mo. 

FiFiELD,  J.  W.,  Rev.,  A.M.,  D.D. 

1903        Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  Kansas  City,  Mo. 

Garrison,  James  H.,  LL.D. 

1903        Editor     Christian  Evangelist,"  1522  Locust  St.,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

GooDSON,  C.  Polk,  Rev.  * 

1903  Pastor  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church,  Kingshighway  and  Cabanne  Ave. 
St.  Louis,  Mo. 

Hicks,  W.  C,  Rev. 

1904  Pastor  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church,  Springfield,  Mo. 

HowLAND,  Clark  P.,  A.M. 

1903        Principal  .\cademy,  Drury  College,  Fairbanks  Hall,  Springfield,  Mo. 

Jesse,  Richard  H.,  LL.D.  * 

1903         President  University  of  Missouri,  Columbia,  Mo. 

Jones,  William  M.,  Rev.,  Ph.D. 

1903         Pastor  Hyde  Park  Congregational  Church,  391 1  Blair  Ave.,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

Keppel,  Charles  H. 

1903         Superintendent  First  Presbyterian  Sunday  School,  810  Olive  St.,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

King,  George  W.,  Rev.. 

1903         Asst.  Pastor  First  Presbyterian  Church,  5097  Washington  Ave.,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

Knox,  George  P. 

1903  High-School  Teacher,  5178  Morgan  Ave.,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

Kroeger,  Ernest  R.  + 

1904  Director  College  of  Music,  Forest  Park  University,  The  Odeon,  Grand  and 
Franklin  Aves.,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 


S86  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

MISSOURI— Continued 

Lhamon,  W.  J.,  A.M. 

1903        Dean  Bible  College  of  Missouri,  Columbia,  Mo. 

McKiTTRiCK,  William  J.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Pastor  First  Presbyterian  Church,  5097  Washington  Ave.,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

Morris,  James  C. 

1903        Fayette,  Mo. 

MucKLEY,  G.  W.,  Rev. 

1903        Corres.   Secretary  Church  Extension  Society  Christian  Church,  600  Water 
Works  Bldg.,  Kansas  City,  Mo. 

Newell,  William  W.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Compton  Hill  Congregational  Church,  1040  S.  Compton  Ave.,  St.  Louis 
Mo. 

O'Brien,  James  P.,  Rev. 

1903         State  Superintendent  Congregational  Sunday  School  and  Publishing  Society 
4005  Genesee  St.,  Kansas  City,  Mo. 

Patton,  Cornelius  H.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

Phillips,  Alice  M.  M. 

1903        Pastor  Congregational  Church,  2630  Washington  Ave.,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

Porter,  J.  J.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Pastor  First  Baptist  Church,  109  Byears  Ave.,  Joplin,  Mo. 

RoBLEE,  Mrs.  Joseph  H. 

1903         Promoting  Home  Study,  3657  Delmar  Ave.,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

ScARRiTT,  Charles  W.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Melrose  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  3236  St.  John's  Ave., 
Kansas  City,  Mo. 

Semelroth,  William  J. 

1903        Editor  "Sunday  School  Evangel,"  8th  and  Olive  Sts.,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

Sheldon,  Walter  L. 

1903        Lecturer  Ethical  Society  of  St.  Louis,  4065  Delmar  Ave.,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

Short,  William,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Rector  St.  Peter's  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  3692  W.  Pine  Blvd.,  St.  Louis, 
Mo. 

Short,  Wallace  M.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Congregational  Church,  2454  Tracy  Ave.,  Kansas  City,  Mo. 

Smith,  Madison  R. 

1903        Attorney  and  Reporter  St.  Louis  Courts  of  Appeal,  Farmington,  Mo. 

Smith,  William,  Rev. 

1903        6438  Wise  Ave.,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

Spencer,  Claudius  B.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Editor  "Central  Christian  Advocate,"  Kansas  City,  Mo. 

Stimson,  Cyrus  Flint,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Westminster  Congregational  Church,  Kansas  City,  Mo. 

Stone,  R.  Foster,  Rev. 

1903  Pastor  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Lecturer,  Green  City,  Mo. 

Sullivan,  J.  W.,  Rev. 

1904  Pastor  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church,  Centerview,  Mo. 

Verdier,  a.  R. 

1903  Asst.  Superintendent  First  Presbyterian  Bible  School,  615  Fullerton  Bldg.,  St. 
Louis,  Mo. 

Williams,  Walter,  Hon. 

1904  Chairman  Executive  Board  Missouri  State  University,  517  Hitt  St.,  Columbia 
Mo. 

Wyckoff,  Clyde  H.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Baptist  Church,  Claremont,  Mo. 

Young,  Mattie  T. 

1903  Stratmann  P.  O.,  St.  Louis  Co.,  Mo. 

institutions 
University  of  Missouri 

1904  President,  Richard  L.  Jesse,  LL.D.,  Columbia,  Mo. 


THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION  587 

MONTANA 

Bell,  W.  S.,  Rev.  . 

1903        State  Superintendent  Congregational  Sunday  School  and  Publishing  Soaety 
S04  Dearborn  Ave.,  Helena,  Mont. 

institutions 
First  Baptist  Bible  School 

1903        Superintendent,  George  B.  Conway,  Dillon,  Mont. 

NEBRASKA 
Axtell,  Archie  G.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Trenton,  Nebr. 
Batten,  Samuel  Zane,  Rev.,  A.M. 

igo3        Baptist  Minister,  1332  K  St.,  Lincoln,  Nebr. 

Brinstad,  Charles  William,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1903        2219  Willis  Ave.,  Omaha,  Nebr. 

Bullock,  Motier  A.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Pastor  Vine  St.  Congregational  Church,  645  N.  25th  St.,  Lincoln,  Nebr. 

Burnham,  S.  H.  t 

1903        Lincoln,  Nebr. 

Creighton,  John,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  First  Presbyterian  Church,  123  E.  9th  St.,  York,  Nebr. 

Graif,  Philip,  Rev.,  A.M.,  D.D. 

1903        Nebraska  City,  Nebr. 

Hammel,  John  D.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Swanton,  Nebr. 

McDougall,  George  L.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Bloomfield,  Nebr. 

Millard,  Martin  J.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Superintendent  Public  Library,  Dewitt,  Nebr. 

TUTTLE,  John  Ellery,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903  Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  1625  D  St.,  Lincohi,  Nebr. 

NEW  HAMPSHIRE 

BmGHAM,  G.  W.,  A.M. 

1904  Principal  Pinkerton  Academy,  Derry,  N.  H. 

Blake,  Henry  A.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Rochester,  N.  H. 

Braisted,  William  E.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  First  Baptist  Church,  Antrim,  N.  H. 

Dana,  S.  H.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903  Pastor  PhilUps  Congregational  Church,  Exeter,  N.  H. 

Euerson,  Charles  F. 

1904  Dean  Dartmouth  College,  33  College  St.,  Hanover,  N.  H. 
Horne,  Herman  H.,  Ph.D. 

1903         Professor  Dartmouth  College,  Hanover,  N.  H. 

Huntington,  George  P.,  Rev. 

1903  Rector  St.  Thomas'  Church,  Hanover,  N.  H. 

LUDS,  S.  P. 

Hanover,  N.  H. 

Richardson,  Cynes,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1904  Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  6  Sumner  St.,  Nashua,  N.  H. 

Swain,  Richard  L.,  Rev.,  Ph.D. 

1903        Pastor  Congregational  Church,  30  Messer  St.,  Laconia,  N.  H. 

Thayer,  Lucius  H.,  Rev. 

1903  Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Portsmouth,  N.  H. 

TORREY,  C.  C,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1904  Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Tamworth   N.  H. 


588  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

NEW  B.AMPSBJRE— Continued 
Tucker,  William  J.,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

1903         President  Dartmouth  College,  Hanover,  N.  H. 

Warden,  William  F.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Walpole,  N.  H. 

NEW  JERSEY 
Baldwin,  Josephine  L.  * 

1903         Superintendent  Elementary  Work  New  Jersey  State. Sunday  School  Association, 
32  Elizabeth  Ave.,  Newark,  N.  J. 

Barnes,  Mrs.  J.  Woodbridge 

1903         Primary  and  Junior  Secretary  International  Sunday  School  Association,  33 
Kearny  St.,  Newark,  N.  J. 

BoococK,  William  H.,  Rev.  * 

1903         Pastor  First  Reformed  Church,  763  Ave.  C,  Bayonne,  N.  J. 

Bradford,  Amory  H.,  Rev.,  D.D.  * 

1903         Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  11  Plymouth  St.,  Montclair   N.  J. 

Brett,  Cornelius,  Rev.,  D.D.  * 

1903         Pastor  Bergen  Reformed  Church,  797  Bergen  Ave.,  Jersey  City,  N.  J. 

Briggs,  Howard  A.  M.,  Rev. 

1903         Waverly  Congregational  Church,  42  Booraem  Ave.,  Jersey  City,  N.  J. 

Chapin,  W.  H. 

1903         General  Secretary  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  Montclair,  N.  J. 

Cole,  Arthur  S.,  Rev.  * 

1903  Pastor  North  Baptist  Church,  Millville,  N.  J. 

Converse,  C.  Crozat,  LL.D.  t 

1904  Composer  and  Writer,  Highwood,  N.  J. 

Dennis,  Mrs.  Lab  an 

1903  30  Central  Ave.,  Newark,  N.  J. 

DoDD,  Charles  Hastings,  Rev.  * 

1904  Pastor  Peddie  Memorial  Church  (Baptist),  43  FuUon  St.,  Newark,  N.  J. 

Donaldson,  George,  Rev.,  Ph.D. 

1904        Teacher  Dewitt  Clinton  High  School,  Cliffside,  N.  J. 

Fennell,  W.  G.,  Rev.  * 

1903         Pastor  South  Baptist  Church,  29  Wahiut  St.,  Newark,  N.  J. 

Fergusson,  E.  Morris,  Rev.,  A.M.  * 

1903         General  Secretary  New  Jersey  State  Sunday  School  Association,  903  Edgewood 
Ave.  Trenton,  N.  J. 

Garrett,  Edmund  F.,  Rev.  * 

1903         Pastor  First  Baptist  Church,  Bordentown,  N.  J. 

Gulick,  Edward  L.,  Rev.  * 

1903         Hanover,  N.  J. 

Hawkins,  L.  E. 

IQ03         General  Secretary  Young  Men's  Christiari  Association,  419  Main  St.,  Orange, 
N.J. 

Hearne,  Edward  Warren,  A.M. 

1903         State  Secretary  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  141  Halsey  St.,  Newark, 
N.  J. 

Hepburn,  W.  M.,  M.D.  * 

1903         IS  Monument  St.,  Freehold,  N.  J. 

Higgons,  John  Axford,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903         Evangelist  and  Gospel  Singer,  69  Hillside  PL,  Newark,  N.  J. 

Hoppaugh,  William,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Presbyterian  Church,  Springfield,  N.  J. 

Hurlbut,  Jesse  L.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903         Pastor  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Park  PI.,  Morristown,  N.  J. 

Hutton,  Mancius  Holmes,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903  Pastor  Reformed  Church,  26  Union  St.,  New  Brunswick,  N.  J. 

Johnston,  Henry  J.,  Rev. 

1904  Ave.  C  and  31st  St.,  Bayonne,  N.  J. 

Jones,  Mrs.  Hiram  T. 

1903        Sunday  School  Teacher,  49  North  Ave.,  EUzabeth,  N.  J. 


THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION  589 

NEW  JERSEY— Continued 
Keigwin,  a.  Edwin,  A.M. 

1903  Pastor  Park  Presbyterian  Church,  246  Garside  St.,  Newark,  N.  J. 

KuMP,  William  A.,  Rev.  * 

I0O4        Pastor  Christ  Lutheran  Church,  79  N.  Pearl  St.,  Bridgeton,  N.  J. 

Lathrop,  Miss  A.  C. 

1904  Mountain  Ave.,  Westfield,  N.  J. 

Leedom,  Ira  C,  M.D. 

1903        President  Board  of  Education,  Sunday-School  Worker,  78  Prince  St.,  Borden- 
town,  N.  J. 

Lewis,  A.  H.,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

1903         Editor  "Sabbath  Recorder,"  Plainfield,  N.  J. 

Lrv'ERMORE,  Leander  E.,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1903         Pastor  Piscataway  Church,  Dunellen,  N.  J. 

Matteson,  William  B.,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1903         Pastor  Baptist  Church,  10  Riverside  Ave.,  Redbank,  N.  J. 

McPherson,  Simon  J.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903  Head  Master  Lawrenceville  School,  Lawrenceville,  N.  J. 

Meyer,  Hugo,  Rev. 

1904  Pastor  Evangchcal  Lutheran  Church,  sn  No.  3rd  St.,  Mil]\ille,  N.  J. 

Morgan,  John  Francis,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1903  Pastor  Park  Reformed  Church,  281  8th  St.,  Jersey  City,  N.  J. 

MtTRRAY,  George  Wellwood 

1904  77  Mountain  Ave.,  Montclair,  N.  J. 
Myers,  Elmer  H.,  Rev. 

1903         Palmyra,  N.  J. 

NoRRis,  Ada  L.  * 

1903        Primary  Simday-School  Teacher,  79  Alexander  St.,  Princeton,  N.  J. 

Patterson,  M.  T.,  Pd.M.  * 

1903        Deaconess  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  118  Penn  Ave.,  Upper  Montclair,  N.  J. 
Paxton,  Elizabeth  D.  * 

1903         Primary  Sunday-School  Teacher,  20  Library  PI.,  Princeton,  N.  J. 

Pettit,  Mrs.  Alonzo 

1903  President  Primary  and  Junior  Council  State  Sunday  School  Association,  116  W. 
Grand  St.,  EUzabeth,  N.  J. 

Peters,  Nanna  Heath 

1904  Superintendent  Intermediate  Sunday  School,  1017  Broad  St.,  Newark,  N.  J. 

Pratt,  John  R.,  Rev. 

1904        Verona,  N.  J. 

Robert,  Henry  M.,  Gen.  * 

1904        Army  OflScer,  Haworth,  N.  J. 

Roop,  Marcus  J.  -  * 

1904        Clergyman  Reformed  Church,  Ridgefield,  N.  J. 

Sailer,  T.  H.  P.,  Ph.D. 

1904        Editorial  Secretary  Board  Foreign  Missions,  Englewood,  N.  J. 

Schenck   F.  S. 

1904        Professor  Theological  Seminary  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  America,  New 
Brunswick,  N.  J. 

Scott,  Robert  * 

1903  Teacher,  156  Valley  Road,  Montclair,  N.  J. 

Seeley,  Levi,  Ph.D.  * 

1904  Professor  State  Normal  School,  482  W.  State  St.,  Trenton,  N.  J. 

Stafford,  Daniel  Newton,  Ph.D.,  D.D. 

1903        Pastor  Trinity  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Millville,  N.  J. 

Sweeney,  Algernon  T.  * 

1903        Attomey-at-Law,  Superintendent  Union  Universitv  Sunday  School,  Prudential 
Bldg.,  Newark,  N.  J. 

Thomas,  Marion 

1903        Kindergarten  Director,  Lesson  Writer  for  Presbyterian  Board,  27  Johnson  Ave., 
Newark,  N.  J. 

Vandyke,  Henry,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

1903        Professor  Princeton  University,  Princeton,  N.  J. 


590  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

NEW  JERSEY— Contimied 
Weeks,  John  W. 

1903         General  Secretary  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  Summit,  N.  J. 

Wharton,  Charles  A.  * 

1903         Sunday-School  Superintendent,  32  Beech  St.,  East  Orange,  N.  J. 

White,  Grace  D. 

IQ03         36  Duncan  Ave.,  Jersey  City,  N.  J. 

WiKEL,  Henry  H. 

1903         General  Secretary  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  Ridgewood,  N.  J. 

Wilson,  Ferdinand  S.,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1903  Pastor  Fifth  St.  Reformed  Church   276  Boulevard,  Bayonne,  N.  J., 

WiSHART,  Alfred  W.,  Rev.  * 

1904  Trenton,  N.  J. 

institutions 
New  Church  Educational  Association 

1903         President,  Adolf  Roeder,  Orange,  N.  J. 

NEW  YORK 
Abbott,  Ernest  H.  * 

1903        Associate  Editor  "The  Outlook,"  287  4th  Ave.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
Abbott,  Lyman,  Rev.,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

1903         Editor  "The  Outlook,"  287  4th  Ave.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Adams,  John  Quincy,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  First  Presbyterian  ChiKch   Waterloo,  N.  Y. 

Alling,  Joseph  T. 

1903        Rochester,  N .  Y. 

Anderson,  Thomas  D.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Pastor  Emmanuel  Baptist  Church,  146  Lancaster  St,   Albany,  N.  Y. 
Anderson,  William  F.,  Rev.,  A.M.,  D.D. 

1903  Pastor  Highland  Avenue  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Ossining,  N.  Y. 

AimsTRONG,  E.  p.,  Rev. 

1904  Bay  Shore,  Long  Island,  N-  Y. 

Armstrong,  Lynn  P.,  Rev. 

1903         Cuyler  House,  360  Pacific  St.,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Atterbury,  Anson  P.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903         Pastor  Park  Presbyterian  Church,  165  W.  86th  St,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Atwood,  Isaac  M.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903         General   Superintendent   Universahst  General  Convention,  189  Harvard  St., 
Rochester.  N.  Y. 

Ayers,  Daniel  Hollister 

1903        Teacher  Bible  Class,  Secretary  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  1825  sth 
Ave.,  Troy,  N.  Y. 

Ayres,  Sabra  Grant 

1903        Teacher  Old  Testament  History  and  Literature,  13  S.  EUiott  PI.,  Brooklyn, 
N.  Y. 

Bagnall,  Powhatan,  Rev. 

1903         Representative   Presbyterian   General  Assembly,   Committee  on  Evangelistic 
Work,  295  Hart  St.,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Baker,  Smith,  M.D. 

1903        Genesee  St.,  Winston  Bldg.,  Utica,  N.  Y. 

Baldwin,  Edward  Colfax  * 

1903        Secretary  Young  Men's  Institute  of  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  222 
Bowery,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Ball,  Elizabeth  M. 

1903        Principal  Public  School  No.  18   Bronx,  Spuyten  Duyvil,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
Barker,  Henry,  Rev. 

1903         Rector  All  Saints'  Church,  Rosendale,  N.  Y. 

Barto,  Charles  E.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  WilUs  Ave.  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  661  E.  141st  St.,  New  York 

N.  Y. 


THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION  591 

NEW  YORK— Continued 

Batten,  L.  W.,  Rf.v.,  Ph.D. 

1903        Rector  St.  Mark's  Episcopal  Church,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Benjamin,  Chase  + 

1903        Haskinville.  N.  Y. 

Berry,  George  R.,  Ph.D. 

1903        Professor  Colgate  University,  Hamilton,  N.  Y. 

Betteridge,  Walter  R. 

1903        Professor  Rochester  Theological  Seminary,  i8  Sibley  PI.,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

Betts,  F.  W.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  First  Universalist  Church,  Syracuse,  N.  Y. 

Bewer,  Julius  A.,  Ph.D. 

1903         Professor  Union  Theological  Seminary,  700  Park  Ave.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

BiRNiE,  Douglas  Putnam,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Presbyterian  Church,  Rye,  N.  Y. 

Bishop,  Mrs.  L.  J.  P.  * 

1903         Directress  Children's  Dept.  Baptist  Missionary  Society,  319  E.  125th  St.,  New 
York,  N.  Y. 

Bitting,  William  C,  Rev.,  D.D.  * 

1903         Pastor  Mt.  Morris  Baptist  Church,  27  Mt.  Morns  Park  W.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Bliss,  Alfred  V.,  Rev 

1903         Pastor  ■  Congregational  Church,  "The  Olbiston,"  Utica,  N.  Y. 

Bolte,  Charles  ,     t  „       * 

1903  Superintendent  Amity  Bible  School,  333  W.  19th  St.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Boville,  R.  G.,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1904  Superintendent  New  York  City  Baptist  Mis«!ioa  Society,  133  West  60th  St., 
New  York,  N.  Y, 

Briggs,  George  A.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  First  Baptist  Church,  Waverly,  N.  Y. 

Brooks,  John  L.,  A.M.  * 

1903        Graduate  Student  Co'urabia  University,  S4i  W.  124th  St.,  New  York,  N.  Y 
Brown,  Fr.-vncis,  Ph.D.,  D.D. 

1903  Professor  Union  Theological  Seminary,  700  Park  Ave.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Brown,  Marianna  C,  Ph.D.  ,  .    ..     „   ,* 

1904  Teacher  Holy  Trinity  Episcopal  Sunday  School,  35  West  130th  St.,  New  York, 
N.  Y. 

Brown,  William  Adams,  Ph.D.,  D.D. 

1903         Professor  Union  Theological  Seminary,  700  Park  Ave.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Brush,  Alfred  H.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903         Pastor  Reformed  Church,  7920  i8th  Ave.,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Burnham,  Sylvester,  D.D.  .   ,  ^     .        ^  ,       ,,  .      .     „     .,       xr  « 

1903  Professor  Hamilton  Theological  Seminary,  Colgate  University,  Hamilton,  N.  Y. 

Burns,  Allen  Tibbals  .   . 

1904  Religious  Work  Director,  23rd  St.  Young  Men  s   Christian   Association,    215 
W.  23rd  St.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Burrell,  Joseph  Dunn,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Classon  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church,  58  Downing  St.,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Butler,  Nicholas  Murray,  Ph.D.,  LL.D. 

1903        President  Columbia  University,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

BuTTRicK,  Wallace,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903         Secretary  General  Education  Board,  54  Williams  St.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Cadman,  S.  Parkes,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903  Pastor  Central  Congregational  Church,  2  Spencer  PL,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Cady,  J.  Cleveland  * 

1904  Architect,  6  West  22d  St.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Canfield,  James  H.,  LL.D.  * 

1903  Librarian  Columbia  University,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Carpenter,  J.  B.,  Jr.  ^,         * 

1904  Secretary  Boys'  Dept.  Young  Men's  Christian   Association,  502  Fulton  St.. 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Carroll,  William  W.  , ,      .,  „ 

1903        Superintendent  Duryea  Presbyterian  Sunday  School,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 


592  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

NEW  YORK— Continued 

Case,  Carl  D.,  Rev.,  Ph.D. 

1Q03        Pastor  Baptist  Church,  422  Vanderbilt  Ave.,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Chapman,  William  H.,  Rev. 

1903        Chaplain  New  York  State  Reformatory,  1004  College  Ave.,  Elmira,  N.  Y. 

Chase,  Wm.  Sheefe,  Rev.  * 

1903         Canon  of  Chaplain,  St.  Paul's  School,  Garden  City,  N.  Y. 

Collins,  Hannah 

1903  Sunday- School  Teacher,  57  E.  55th  St.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Conant,  Osmyn  p. 

1904  15  Central  Park  Ave.,  New  York,  N.  Y 

Conant,  Thomas,  LL.D. 

1903         Editor  "The  Examiner,"  P.  O.  Box  2030,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Conklin,  John  W.,  Rev. 

igo3         Secretary  Board  Foreign  Missions  Reformed  Church  in  America,  25  E.  22d  S* 
New  York,  N.  Y 

Cook,  John  W. 

1003         State  Secretary  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,   158   Fifth  Ave.,  New 
York,  N.  Y. 

Cooper,  J.  W.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903         Secretary  American  Missionary  Association,  22d  St.  and  4th  Ave.,  New  York, 

N.  Y. 

Cox,  Sydney  Herbert,  Rev.  * 

1903  Pastor  Bethany  Congregational  Church,  344  W.  sist  St.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

CuTTEN,  George  B.,  Rev. 

1904  Pastor  First  Baptist  Church,  236  Wall  St.,  Corning,  N.  Y. 
Dame,  Nelson  Page,  Rev. 

1903         Ossining,  N.  Y. 

Davis,  Boothe  C,  Rev.,  Ph.D.,  D.D. 

1903         President  Alfred  Theological  Seminary,  Alfred,  N.  Y. 

Dewey,  John,  Ph.D.,  LL.D. 

1903  Professor  Columbia  University,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Dietrich,  C.  W. 

1904  Secretary   Young   Men's   Christian   Association,  502    Fulton   St.,  New  York, 
N.  Y. 

Dodge,  D.  Stuart 

1903        99  John  St.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Dodge,  Grace  H. 

1903        262  Madison  Ave.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Dodge,  Richard  Despard 

1903        Secretary  Brooklyn  Sunday  School  Union,  291  Henry  St.,  Brooklyn,  N  Y. 
Duncan,  W.  A.,  Rev.,  Ph.D.  * 

1903         Field  Secretary  Congregational  Sunday  School  and  PubUshing  Society,  901 
University  Ave.,  Syracuse,  N.  Y. 

Dutton,  Samuel  T. 

1903  Professor  Teachers  College,  Columbia  University,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Elliott,  A.  J. 

1904  502  Fulton  St.,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Fagnani,  Charles  P.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Professor  Union  Theological  Seminary,  700  Park  Ave.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Fairchild,  Edwin  M.,  Rev. 

1903         Lecturer  for  Educational  Church  Board,  29  S.  Pine  Ave.    Albany,  N.  Y. 

Farnsworth,  Charles  H.  * 

1903        Professor  of  Music,  Columbia  University,  New  York,  N   Y. 

Ferris,  Frank  A. 

ipo3        Superintendent  Bible  School,  262  Mott  St.,  New  York,  N. 

Forbes,  George  M.,  A.M. 

1903        Professor  University  of  Rochester   27  Tracy  St.,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 
Forbes,  John  F.,  A.M.,  Ph.D. 

1903         215  Westminster  Road,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

Fox,  Norman  * 

1903        49  W.  7Sth  St.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 


THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION  593 

NEW  YORK— Continued 
Frame,  James  E.  „  ,   .      xt     „  ,    xt  ,7 

1903        Professor  Union  Theological  Seminary,  700  Park  Ave.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Francis,  Lewis,  Rev.,  D.D.  ,   .     „     , ,      x,  „ 

1903         Pastor  Kent  Street  Reformed  Church,  143  Noble  St.,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

French,  H.  Delmar,  A.M.,  Litt.D. 

1903         Dean  New  York  School  of  Journalism,  77  Leffcrts  Place,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Gannett,  William  Channing,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1903  Minister  First  Unitarian  Society.  15  Sibley  Pi.,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

Gelert,  Johannes  S.,  X 

1904  Sculptor,  II  East  14th  St.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

German,  Frank  F.,  Rev. 

1903        Rector  St.  Thomas's  Church,  Mamaroneck,  N.  Y. 

GiFFORD,  O.  P.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903  Pastor  Delaware  Avenue  Baptist  Church,  289  Highland  Ave.,  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 

Goodman,  Fred  S.  .   .  * 

1904  Secretary  International  Committee,  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  3  vV. 
29th  St.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

GouLDY,  Jennie  A. 

1903  Teacher  Bible  Class,  Vice-President  Chautauqua  Circle,  169  Montgomery  St. 
Newburg,  N.  Y. 

Gow,  George  C,  Mus.D  . 

1904  Professor  Vassar  College,  Poughkeepsie,  N.  Y. 

Grant,  S.  Edwin,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1903        Pastor  Methodist  Epi.scopal  Church,  Dannemore,  N.  Y. 

Gregg,  David,  Rev.,  D.D. ,  LL.D.  ^    ,    ..       „     ,, 

1903        Pastor  Lafayette  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church,  49  S.  Portland  Ave.,  Brooklyn 
N.  Y. 

Griffis,  William  Elliot,  Rev.,  D.D.,  L.H.D. 

1903  Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  Ithaca,  N.  Y. 

GuLiCK,  Luther  H.,  M.D.  ,      ,.   ,       .  „,.„      uu* 

1904  Director  Physical  Training,  Schools  of  Greater  New  York,  236  Willoughby 
Ave.,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Gurley,  Mrs.  Sears  E. 

1903        Teacher,  1914  sth  Ave.,  Troy,  N.  Y. 

Hall,  Charles  Cuthbert,  D.D.  * 

1903  President  Union  Theological  Seminary,  700  Park  Ave.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Hall,  Colby  Dixon,  Rev.  * 

1904  Minister  of  Disciples  of  Christ,  410  W.  115th  St.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Hall,  Thomas  C,  Rev.,  D.D.  ,.   ,    xt  ^r  * 

1903        Professor  Union  Theological  Seminary,  113  W.  88th  St.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Harrower,  Pascal,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1903         Chairman  Sunday-School  Commission  Diocese  of  New  York,  Rector  Church 
of  the  Ascension,  West  New  Brighton,  N.  Y. 

Haven,  William  Ingraham,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Corresponding   Secretary   American   Bible   Society,  Bible  House,  Astor  PI., 
New  York,  N.  Y. 

Henshaw,  Gordon  E.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Angola,  N.  Y. 

Hervey,  Walter  L.,  Ph.D.  * 

1903        E.xaminer  Board  of  Education,  3S1  W.  114th  St.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Hickman,  William  H.,  Rev.,  A.M.,  D.D.  * 

1903  President  Trustees  Chautauqua  Institution,  Chautauqua,  N.  Y. 
Hicks,  Willi..\m  Cleveland,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1904  Curate  St.  Agnes'  Chapel,  Trinity  Parish,  New  York,  Member  Sunday  Schoo 
Commission  Diocese  of  New  York,  121  W.  91st  St.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Hill,  William  Bancroft,  Rev. 

1903        Professor  Vassar  College,  Poughkeepsie,  N.  Y. 

HiLLis,  Newell  D wight.  Rev.,  D.D.  ^     „     , ,      xt  ir 

1903        Pastor  Plymouth  Congregational  Church,  29  Grace  Ct.,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Hodge,  Richard  M.,  Rev.,  D.D.  ....  t>   ,  a    * 

1903        Instructor  School  for  Lay  Workers.  Union  Theological  Seminary,  700  Park  Ave. , 
New  York,  N.  Y. 


594  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

NEW  YORK— Continued 
Houghton,  Mrs.  Louise  Seymour 

1903        Assoc.  Editor  "Christian  Work  and  Evangelist,"  145  W.  105th  St.,  New  York, 
N.  Y. 

Hudson,  Frances  L. 

1903        Sackett  Harbor,  N.  Y. 

Hull,  William  C,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Church  of  Christ,  167  Paynes  Ave.,  North  Tonawanda,  N.  Y. 

Humpstone,  John,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Pastor  Emmanual  Baptist  Church,  291  Ryerson  St.,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

HuYLER,  John  S. 

1903        64  Irving  PL,  New  York,  N.  Y, 

Jacoby,  Henry  S.,  C.E. 

1903  Professor  Cornell  University,  7  Reservoir  Ave.,  Ithaca,  N.  Y. 

Jenkins,  E.  O.,  Rev. 

1904  Glens  Falls,  N.Y. 

Johnston,  R.  P.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Pastor  Fifth  Avenue  Baptist  Church,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

JONTZ,  Ida  V. 

1903        Minister's    Assistant    Tomkins    Avenue  Congregational  Church,   578  Marty 
Ave.,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

JUDD,  OrRIN  R. 

1903  Superintendent  Central  Baptist  Bible  School,  70  Keep  St.,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

JuDSON,  Mrs.  Charles  N. 

1904  President  Board  of  Trustees  International  Board  of  Young  Women's  Christian 
Associations,  President  Brooklyn  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Keevil,  Charles  J.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1904        Pastor  Second  Avenue  Baptist  Church,  162  Second  Ave.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Keith,  Herbert  C. 

1903  610  E.  i8th  St.,  Flatbush,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Kent,  Robert  J.,  D.D. 

1904  60s  Hancock  St.,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Kendall,  Georgiana  J 

1903  Vice-President  American  Humane  Education  Societv,  10  W.  ssth  St.,  New 
York.  N.  Y. 

KuNDEST,  Olive  Mae 

1904  85  E.  55th  St.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Laidlaw,  Walter,  Rev.,  Ph.D. 

1903         Secretary  Federation  of  Churches  and  Christian  Organizations,  11  Broadw.iy, 
New  York,  N.  Y. 

Lansdale,  Herbert  P. 

1903        General  Secretary  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  10  ist  St.,  Troy,  N.  Y. 

Littlefield,  Mllton  S.,  Rev.  * 

1903        Pastor  First  Union  Presbyterian  Church,  1184  Madison  Ave.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Lockwood,  J.  R.  D. 

1903  P.  O.  Box  1830,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Logan,  Wellington  McM. 

1904  ReUgious  Work  Director  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  502  Fulton  St., 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Long,  John  D.,  Rev.,  A.M.  * 

1903        Pastor  Presbyterian  Church,  Babylon,  Long  Island,  N.  Y. 

Longacre,  Lindsay  B.,  Rev.  * 

1903         East  Chatham,  N.  Y. 

Lord,  Rivington  D.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        President  General  Conference  Free  Baptists,  232  Keap  St.,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Lynch,  Frederick,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Pilgrim  Congregational  Church,  Madison  Ave.  and  12th  St.,  New  York, 
N.  Y. 
MacArthur,  Robert  S.,  Rev.,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

1903        Pastor  Calvary  Baptist  Church,  358  W.  S/th  St.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

MacClelland,  George  L.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Presbyterian  Church,  Westfield,  N.  Y. 


THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION  595 

NEW  YORK— Continued 
MacDonald,  Robert,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Washington  Avenue  Church,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Main,  Arthur  E.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Professor  Alfred  Theological  Seminary,  Alfred,  N.  Y. 

Makepeace,  F.  Barrows,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Trinity  Congregational  Church,  Tremont,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Marshall,  Benjamin  T.,  Rev. 

1903  Pastor  Scarborough  Presbyterian  Church,  Scarborough-on-Hudson,  N.  Y. 

Mason,  William  T. 

1904  63  Wall  St.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

McMuRRY,  Frank  Norton,  Ph.D. 

Professor  Teachers  College,  Columbia  University,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Melish,  John  Howard,  Rev.,  S.T.B. 

1903        Church  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  157  Montague  St.,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Merriam,  George  E.,  Rev. 

1903        Pasto  -  Presbyterian  Church,  Mt.  Kisco,  N.  Y. 
Merrill,  George  Edwards,  D.D.,  LE.D. 

1903  President  Colgate  University,  Hamilton,  N.  Y. 

Merrill,  Harry  W. 

1904  Genera!  Secretary  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  Tarrytown,  N.  Y. 
Miller,  Edward  W.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903  Professor  Auburn  Theological  Seminary,  S.  North  St.,  Auburn,  N.  Y. 

Mitchell,  Mrs.  S.  ?. 

1904  268  North  St.,  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 
Morgan,  Charles  H.,  Rev.,  A.M.,  Ph.D. 

1903         Bible-Study  Courses  and  Missionary  Literature,  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
150  sth  Ave.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Mountford,  Lydia  M.  Von  Finkelstetn 

1903         Lecturer  on  Biblical  Orientalisms,  P.  O.  Box  93,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Murray,  William  D. 

1903  Attorney  and  Counselor-at-Law,  Leader  Primary  Dept.   Sunday  School,  76 
Williams  St.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Nason,  George  F.,  Rev.,  A.M.  * 

1904  Pastor   North   Avenue    Presbyterian   Church,   219  North    Ave.,   New    Ro- 
cheUe,  N.  Y. 

Newton,  Richard  Heber,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903         East  Hampton,  N.  Y. 

Nicolas,  John 

1903        Sunday-School  Teacher,  371  Clinton  St.,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Ogden,  Robert  C.  t 

1903        New  York,  N.  Y. 

O'Grady,  Caroline  G. 

1903         Instructor  Teachers  College,  Columbia  University,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

OSBORN,  F.  W. 

1903  Professor  Adelphi  College,  422  Grand  Ave.,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Palmer,  Frederick,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1904  31  Grover  St.,  Auburn,  N.  Y. 

P/vlmer,  Lois  Sedgwick 

1903  Principal  First  Presbyterian  Sunday  School,  76  Johnson  Park,  Buflalo,  N.  Y. 

Pease,  John  D. 

1904  2  E.  127th  St.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Pennoyer,  C.  H.,  Rev. 

1903        UniversaUst  and  Ethical  Culture  Sunday  Schools,  ztsi  So.  4th  Ave.,  Mt.  Ver- 
non, N.  Y. 

Pershing,  Orlando  B.,  Rev. 

1903  2207  Pierce  Ave.,  Niagara  Falls,  N.  Y. 
Peters,  John  P.,  Rev.,  Ph.D.,  D.D. 

1904  Pastor  St.  Michael's  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  225  West  99th  St.,  New 
York,  N.  Y. 

Pike,  Henry  H. 

1903         Superintendent  St.  George's  Sunday  School,  134  Pe»rl  St.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 


596  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

NEW  YORK— Continued 
Platt,  Caroline  M. 

1903        Sunday-School  Teacher,  311  Lenox  Ave.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Rawlison,  Chari-es  F. 

1004        Special  Secretary  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  318  W.  S7th  St.,  New 
York,  N.  Y. 

Raymond,  Andrew  V.  V.,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

1903        President  Union  College,  Schenectady,  N.  Y. 

Reed,  Lewis  T.,  Rev. 

1903  Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  8  Park  Place,  Canandaigua,  N.  Y. 
Reeder,  R.  R.,  Ph.D.  * 

1904  Superintendent  New  York  Orphan  Asylum,  Hastings-on-Hudson,  N.  Y. 
Rhees,  Rush,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

1903  President  University  of  Rochester,  440  University  Ave.,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 
Richards,  Charles  H.,  D.D. 

1904  Secretary  Congregational  Church  BuOding  Society,  105  E.  22d  St.,  New  York. 
N.  Y. 

Richmond,  George  C,  Rev. 

1903        Asst.  Minister  to  Bishop  Huntington,  103  Comstock  PI.,  Syracuse,  N.  Y. 
RiGGS,  James  Stevenson,  D.D.  * 

1903        Professor  Auburn  Theological  Seminary,  Auburn^  N.  Y. 

Robinson,  Joseph  H.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Presbyterian  Church,  White  Plains,  N.  Y. 

Russell,  James  E.,  Ph.D. 

1903         Dean  Teachers  College,  Columbia  University,  500  W.  121st  St.,  New  York, 

N.Y. 

Russell,  J.  Elmer,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Presbyterian  Church,  Cape  Vincent,  N.  Y. 

Ryder,  C.  J.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1004        Corresponding   Secretarv  American  Missionary  Association,  cor.  4th  Ave.  and 
22dSt.,New  York,  N.Y. 

Sanderson,  Lydia  E. 

1903        Professor  Wells  College,  Aurora,  N.  Y. 
Sawin,  Theophilus  p..  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Pastor  First  Presbyterian  Church,  120  ist  St.,  Troy,  N.  Y. 

Schmidt,  Nathaniel,  Ph.D. 

1903  Professor  Cornell  University,  Ithaca,  N.  Y. 

SctJDDER,  Myron  Tracy,  A.M. 

1904  Principal  New  Paltz  Normal  School,  New  Paltz,  N.  Y. 

See,  Edwin  F.  t* 

1903        General  Secretary  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  502  Fulton  St.,  Brook- 
lyn, N.  Y. 

Seligsberg,  Alice  Lillie 

1903        Teacher  Down-Town  Ethical  Society,  1034  Park  Ave.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Sewall,  a.  C,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Pastor  Second  Street  Presbyterian  Church,  Troy,  N.  Y. 

Sewall,  Charles  G.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Presbyterian  Church,  Rome,  N.  Y. 

Sewall,  G.  P.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Presbyterian  Church,  Aurora,  N.  Y. 

Sexton,  Wilson  D.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Presbyterian  Church,  770  St.  Nicholas  Ave.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Shaw,  Charles  Gray,  Ph.D. 

1903  Professor  New  York  University,  32  Waverly  Place,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Sherman,  Henry  A. 

1904  Manager  Religious  Literature  Dept.  of  Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  153  Fifth  Ave. 
New  York,  N.  Y. 

Sherry,  Norman  B. 

1903         Superintendent  Second  Street  Presbyterian  Sunday  School,  loth  and  People's 
Ave.,Troy,  N.  Y. 

Silverman,  Joseph,  D.D. 

1903        Rabbi  Temple  Emanuel,  9  W.  90th  St.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 


THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION  597 

NEW  YORK— Continued 
Simmons,  Harvey  L.  * 

1903        General  Secretary  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  46  Clifton    Place 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Smith,  Fred  B. 

1903         Secretary    Religious   Work    Dept.    International    Committee,   Young   Mens 
Christian  Association,  3  W.  29th  St.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Smith,  Roelif  B. 

1903  General  Secretary  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  Albany,  N.  Y. 

Smith,  Thomas  F.,  M.D. 

1904  Bible-School  Teacher,  264  Lenox  Ave.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Smith,  William  W.,  Rev.  * 

1904        Secretary  Sundav  School  Commission  of  the  Diocese  of  New  York,  28  La  Fay- 
ette PI.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Stevens,  Willlam  Arnold,  D.D. 

1903        Professor  Rochester  Theological  Seminary,  259  Alexander  St.,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

Stewart,  George  B.,  D.D.,  LL.D.  * 

1903        President  Auburn  Theological  .Seminary,  Auburn,  N.  Y. 

Stewart,  John  A. 

1903        Superintendent  First  Baptist  Sunday  School,  579  West  Ave.,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

Stewart,  J.  W.  A.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Pastor  Furst  Baptist  Church,  21  Atkinson  St.,  Rochester  N.  Y. 

Stillman,  T.  E.  X 

1903        9  E.  78th  St.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Stimson,  Henry  A.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Pastor  Manhattan  Congregational  Church,  159  W.  86th  St.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

St.  John,  Edward  P.  * 

1903  Superintendent  New  York  State  Sunday  School  Association,  Prattsburgh,  N.  Y 

Stoddard,  Frank  P. 

1904  Newburg,  N.  Y. 

Stokes,  Olivia  E.  P.  t 

1903        37  Madison  Ave.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Stonebridge,  William  F. 

1903        Sunday-School  Teacher,  141  Broadway,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Stoppard,  Alice  Hart 

1903        163  E.  Genesee  St.,  Auburn,  N.  Y. 

Strayer,  P.^xil  Moore,  Rev.  * 

1903        Pastor  Third  Presbyterian  Church,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

Street,  William  D.,  Rev. 

1903        Instructor  Union  Theological  Seminary,  4  Ridgeway  Ave.,  WTiite  Plains,  N.  Y 

Strong,  Josiah,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        President  American  Institute  of  Social  Service,  105  E.  22d  St.,  New  York,  N.  Y 

Taylor,  Livingston  L.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Puritan  Congregational  Church,  660  Lafayette  Ave.,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Taylor,  Marcus  B.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903  Pastor  Park  Congregational  Church,  427  7th  St.,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Taylor,  S.  Earl 

Editorial  Staff,  Epworth  League  Bible  Courses,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Taylor,  William  Rivers,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1904  Pastor  Brick  Presbyterian  Church,  13  Prince  St.,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

VanSlyke,  J.  G.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Pastor  First  Reformed  Church,  52  Main  St.,  Kingston,  N.  Y. 

Vincent,  Marvin  R.,  D.D. 

1903        Professor  Union  Theological  Seminary,  18  E.  92d  St.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Wentworth,  Russell  A. 

1903        Civil  Engineer,  Buffalo,  Rochester  &  Pittsburg  Ry.,  Springville,  N.  Y. 

White,  Sherman  M.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  First  Baptist  Church,  Akron,  N.  Y. 

Whitford,  a.  H. 

1903        General  Secretary  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 
Whiton,  James  M.,  Rev.,  Ph.D. 

1903         Chairman  Exec.  Comm.  New  York  State  Conference  of  Religion,  Assoc.  Editor 
"The  Outlook,"  28  W.  128th  St.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 


598  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

NEW  YORK— Continued 

Whitteker,  W.  F.,  Rev. 

1903  88  Spring  St.,  Amsterdam,  N.  Y. 

Wilcox,  Daniel  L. 

1904  Sunday-School  Teacher,  2013  Fifth  Ave.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Williams,  Henry  S:,  Ph.D. 

1904        Professor  Cornell  University,  Ithaca,  N.  Y. 

Williams,  Mary  Clark 

1903        Sunday-School  Teacher,  Canandaigua,  N.  Y. 

Williams,  Richard  R.,  Rev. 

1903         Superintendent  Sunday  School,  124  St.  James  PI.,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Williams,  W.  Owen,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Welsh  Calvinistic  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Granville,  N.  Y. 

WooLWORTH,  William  S..,  Rev. 

1903        Asst.  Pastor  Clinton  Avenue  Congregational  Church,  148  Halsey  St.,  Brooklyn, 
N.  Y. 

Wyckoff,  Charles  S.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Grace  Reformed  Church,  582  Flatbush  Ave.,  Flatbush,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Wyman,  Arthur  J.,  Rev. 

1903  Pastor  Presbyterian  Church,  Spuyten  Duyvil,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Wynne,  John  J.,  S.J. 

1904  Editor  of  "Messenger  Roman   CathoHc  Magazine,"  29  West    i6th   St.,  New 
York,  N.  Y. 

Yarnell,  D.  E. 

1904        Secretary  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  318  W.  57th  St.,  New  York, 

N.  Y. 

Zimmerman,  Jeremiah,  Rev.,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

1903  Pastor  First  English  Lutheran  Church,  107  South  Ave.,  Syracuse,  N.  Y. 

institutions 
Colgate  University  Library 

1904  Asst.  Librarian,  Miss  Mary  Frances  Smith,  Hamilton,  N.  Y. 

Columbia  University 

1903  President,  Nicholas  Murray  Butler,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 
General  Theological  .Seminary  Library 

1904  Dean,  Milford  L.  Robbins,  Chelsea  Square,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

Jewish  Theological  Seminary  of  America 

1904        President,  Samuel  Schechter,  A.M.,  Litt.D.,  531-535  W.  123d  St.,  New  York 
N.  Y. 

University  of  Rochester 

1904        President,  Rush  Rhees,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

NORTH  CAROLINA 
Bailey,  Josiah  W. 

1903         Editor  "Biblical  Recorder,"  Raleigh,  No.  Car. 

Durham,  Plato  T. 

1903  Professor  Trinity  College,  Durham,  No.  Car. 

Emery,  C.  M.,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1904  Field  Secretary  Colby  Academy,  Southern  Pines,  No.  Car. 

HoBBS,  Mary  M. 

1903        Guilford  College,  Guilford  College,  No.  Car. 

Johnson,  T.  Neil,  A.M. 

1903        Field  Secretary  State  Baptist  Sunday  Schools,  113  Fayetteville  St.,  Raleigh, 
No.  Car. 

McKelway,  a.  J. 

1903        Editor  "Presbyterian  Standard,"  Charlotte,  No.  Car. 

Miller,  Emma  L. 

1903        728  S.  Blount  St.,  Raleigh,  No.  Car. 

Newlin,  Thomas 

1903        Professor  Guilford  College,  Guilford  College,  No.  Car. 

Potts,  Joseph 

1903        Minister  of  Friends,  Westminster,  No.  Car. 


THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION  599 

NORTH  DAKOTA 
Dickey,  Alfred  E. 

1903        Attorney  and  Counselor-at-Law,  Jamestown,  No.  Dak. 

Fuller,  Willard,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  First  Baptist  Church,  522  So.  3d  St.,  Jamestown,  No.  Dak. 

GiLPATRiCK,  Howard,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Hope,  No.  Dak. 

Shaw,  Edwin  S.,  Rev. 

1903        Field  Secretary  Fargo  College,  918  Seventh  St.,  So.  Fargo,  No.  Dak. 

Squires,  Vernon  P.,  A.M. 

1903         Professor  University  of  North  Dakota,  University,  No.  Dak. 

Stickney,  Edwin  H.,  Rev. 

1903         State  Superintendent  Congregational  Sunday  School  and  PubUshing  Society 
901  No.  First  St.,  Fargo,  No.  Dak. 

OHIO 

Allen,  Ernest  Bourner,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Washington  St.  Congregational  Church,  1736  Washington  St.,  Toledo, 
Ohio 

Barton,  Frank  M. 

1903        Editor  "Current  Anecdotes,"  Caxton  Bldg.,  Cleveland,  Ohio 

Bashford,  J.  W.,  Ph.D. 

1903        Bishop  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  23  Oak  Hill  Ave.,  Delaware,  Ohio 

Bawden,  Henry  H.,  Rev. 

1903  226  Fifth  St.,  East  Liverpool,  Ohio 

Beachler,  William  H.,  Rev. 

1904  Pastor  Brethren  Church,  Mlamisburg,  Ohio 

Benton,  Horace 

1903        Wholesale  Druggist,  559  Sibley  St.,  Cleveland,  Ohio 

Bishop,  J.  Remsen,  Ph.D.  * 

1903         Principal  Walnut  Hills  High  School,  Cincinnati,  Ohio 

Boone,  Richard  G.,  A.M.,  Ph.D. 

1903         Superintendent  of  Schools,  2153  Grand  St.,  Cincinnati,  Ohio 

Bosworth,  Edward  I.,  D.D. 

1903        Professor  Oberlin  Theological  Seminary,  OberUn,  Ohio 

Bowers,  Roy  E.,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1903        Pastor  Fu-st  Congregational  Church,  Rootstown,  Ohio 

Bradshaw,  J.  W.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Pastor  First  Congregational  Chtirch,  Oberlin,  Ohio 

Brett,  William  H. 

1903        Librarian  Public  Library,  Cleveland,  Ohio 

BuDD,  George  S. 

1903  State  Secretary  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  Schultz  Bldg.,  Columbus 
Ohio 

Burnworth,  E.  Davis,  Rev. 

1904  Pastor  Brethren  Chiu-ch,  Glenford,  Ohio 

Carman,  Augustine  S.,  Rev. 

1903         Educational  Secretary  Denison  University,  Granville,  Ohio 

Cheney,  James  Loring,  Rev.,  Ph.D. 

1903  Pastor  Willson  Avenue  Baptist  Church,  17  Irvington  St.,  Cleveland,  Ohio 

Church,  A.  B.  * 

1904  President  Bucbtel  College,  Akron,  Ohio 

Clark,  Davis  W.,  D.D. 

1903        Presiding  Elder  Cincinnati  District  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  220  W.  4th 
St.,  Cincinnati,  Ohio 

Clifford,  Elizabeth 

1903  Sunday-School  Teacher,  WTiite  Hall,  Fairmount  St.,  Cleveland,  Ohio 

CoPELAND,  Foster 

1904  President  "City  Deposit  Bank  Co.,"  Columbus,  Ohio 

Cowdery,  Kirke  L. 

1904        Assoc.  Profe.'^sor  Oberlin  College,  184  Woodland  Ave.,  Oberlin,  Ohio 


6oo  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

OHIO — Continued 
CuLP,  W.  T.  Sherman,  Ph.D.,  D.D. 

1903         102  Murray  Hill  Ave.,  Cleveland,  Ohio 

Currier,  Albert  H.,  D.D. 

1903        Professor  Oberlin  Theological  Seminary,  105  Elm  St.,  Oberlin,  Ohio 

Davies,  Arthur  E.,  Ph.D. 

1903        Professor  Ohio  State  University,  420  15th  Ave.,  Columbus,  Ohio 

Day,  William  Edmund 

1903        Physical  Director  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  Dayton,  Ohio 

DiBELL,  Edwin,  Rev. 

1903  Baptist  Minister,  Sunday-School  Teacher.  Kingsville,  Ohio 

DoANE,  William  Howard,  Mus.D- 

1904  2226  Auburn  Ave.,  Cincinnati,  Ohio 

Dundon,  Clarence  E. 

1904        Superintendent  Rootstown  Congregational  Sunday  School,  New  Wilford,  Ohio 

Evans,  Mary,  Litt.D. 

1904        President  I.ake  Erie  College,  Painesville,  Ohio 

Eraser,  John  G.,  Rev.,  A.M.,  D.D. 

1904         Secretary  Ohio  Home  Missionary  Society,    Register  and  Statistical  Secretary 
Congregational  Association  of  Ohio,  711  Caxton  Bldg.,  Cleveland,  Ohio 

Fullerton,  Kemper,  A.M. 

1903  Professor  Oberlin  Theological  Seminary,  Oberlin,  Ohio 

Career,  L.  Leedy,  A.M. 

1904  Professor  Ashland  College,  Ashland,  Ohio 

Gilbert,  Levi,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Editor  "Western  Christian  Advocate,"  220  W.  Fourth  St.,  Cincinnati,  Ohio 
GoLDNER,  J.  H.,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1903        Pastor  Christian  Church,  732  Logan  Ave.,  Cleveland,  Ohio 

Goodrich,  Chauncey  W.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Bolton  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church,  59  HiEburn  Ave.,  Cleveland,  Ohio 

Greenlund,  W.  a. 

1903         Superintendent  Euclid  Avenue  Presbyterian  Bible  School,  79  Commonwealth 
Ave.,  Cleveland,  Ohio 

Cries,  Moses  J. 

1903        Rabbi  of  The  Temple,  45  Oakdale  St.,  Cleveland,  Ohio 

Grossman,  Louis,  D.D. 

1903        Professor  Hebrew  Union  College,  Rabbi  Plum  Street  Temple,  Cincinnati,  Ohio 
Hanley,  Elijah  A.,  Rev.,  A.M.  * 

1903  Pastor  East  End  Baptist  Church,  2187  Euclid  Ave.,  Cleveland,  Ohio 

Harding,  J.  H. 

1904  Y.  M.  C.  A.  Bldg.,  Cincinnati,  Ohio 

Harsha,  J.  W.,  Rev. 

1903        no  E.  Church  Ave.,  O.xford,  Ohio 

Hatfield,  Albert  D. 

1903         Superintendent   Euclid   Avenue   Congregational   Bible  School,   330  Harkness 
Avenue,  Cleveland,  Ohio 

Haydn,  Howell  Merriman 

Assoc.  Professor  Western  Reserve  University,  95  Mayfield  St.,  Cleveland,  Ohio 
Henry,  Carl  E.,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1903         Pastor  All  Souls'  Universalist  Church,  President  Ohio  Universalist  Convention, 
90  4th  Ave.,  Cleveland,  Ohio 

Hiatt,  Caspar  W.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Pastor  EucUd  Avenue  Congregational  Church,  820  Logan  Ave.,  Cleveland, 
Ohio 

HiLLis,  W.  A.,  Rev. 

1903        Superintendent  American   Sunday-School   Union,  Caxton  Bldg.,  Cleveland, 
Ohio 

Hirschy,  Noah  C. 

1903        President  Central  Mennonite  College,  Bluffton,  Ohio 

Hitchcock,  Charles  E.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Claridon,  Ohio 

Hitchcock,  Joseph  Edson 

1903        306  S.  Professor  St.,  Oberlin,  Ohio 


THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION  6oi 

OHIO— Continued 
HOLLETT,  C.  M.,  Rev.,  Ph.D.,  D.D. 

1904         Pastor  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Jefferson,  Ohio 

Houghton,  Albert  C. 

1903  1314  Williamson  Bldg.,  (Cleveland,  Ohio 

Hunt,  Emoky  W.,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

1903         President  Denison  University,  Granville,  Ohio 

HuTCHESON,  Mary  E. 

1903         Chairman  Committee  on  Church  Education,  Ohio  Congress  of  Mothers,  1471 
E.  Long  St.,  Columbus,  Ohio 

Johnson,  Theodore  A.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Central  Christian  Church,  Hubbard,  Ohio 

Tones,  Thomas  Henry 

1903        Bible-Class  Teacher,  Market  Presbyterian  Sunday  School,  519  W.  North  St. 
Lima,  Ohio 

Keith,  Lucy  E. 

1903         Teacher  Western  College,  Oxford,  Ohio 

King,  Henry  Churchill,  D.D. 

1903         President  Oberlin  College,  Oberhn,  Ohio 

King,  John  W.,  Rev.,  Ph.D.,  D.D. 

1903  Presiding  Elder,  55  Cleveland  St.,  Youngstown,  Ohio 

Lawrence,  Martha  E. 

1904  Lake  Erie  College,  Painesville,  Ohio 

Laws,  Annie  .    . 

1903         President  Cincinnati  Kindergarten  Association,  818  Dayton  St.,  Cmcmn;r  , 
Ohio 

MacCracken,  Anna  M.,  Ph.D. 

1903         High-School  Teacher,  Xenia,  Ohio 

Matthews,  Paul,  Rev.,  A.M.,  Litt.D. 

1903        Rector  St.  Luke's  Church,  917  Dayton  St.,  Cincinnati,  Ohio 

Mattison,  a.  M.  „         ^,  . 

1903         Professor  West  Side  High  School,  Cleveland,  Ohio;  residence,  Berea,  Ohi' 

Metcalf,  Irving  W.,  Rev. 

1903        Trustee  of  Oberlin  College,  70  So.  Cedar  Ave.,  Oberlin,  Ohio 

Mills,  Charles  S.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903         Pastor  Pilgrim  Congregational  Church,  Cleveland,  Ohio 

Mitchell,  Charles  B.,  Rev.,  Ph.D.,  D.D. 

1903         Pastor  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  606  Eticlid  Ave.,  Cleveland,  Ohio 

Montgomery,  Bertha  Emeline,  A.M. 

1903  Principal  Kindergarten  Training  School,  Oberlin,  Ohio 

Moore,  Henrietta  G.,  Rev. 

1904  Pastor  Universalist  Churches,  Springfield  and  Dayton,  555  So.  Fountain  Ave., 
Springfield,  Ohio 

Morris,  George  K.,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

1903         Pastor  Euclid  Avenue  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  422  Bolton  Ave.,  Cleveland, 
Ohio 

Nichols,  John  R.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903         Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  Marietta,  Ohio 

Owens,  John  R. 

1903        Bible-School  Teacher,  136  Ipgleside  Ave.,  Cleveland,  Ohio 

Peckham,  George  A.,  .^.M. 

1903        Professor  Hiram  College,  Hiram,  Ohio 
Perry,  Alfred  T.,  D.D. 

1903         President  Marietta  College,  Marietta,  Ohio 

Phillips,  T.  F.,  Rev.,  Ph.D.,  D.D.  ,  ^,     , 

1903        President  Belmont  Avenue  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  409  Belmont  Ave., 
Youngstown,  Ohio 

Pike,  Grant  E.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Christian  Church,  Lisbon,  Ohio 

Pollard,  Harry  H.  ^       .         ,  ^l- 

1903        Secretary  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  East  Liverpool,  Ohio 


6o2  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

OHIO — Continued 
Pond,  CHAinrcEY  N.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Northern  Secretary  Industrial  Association  of  Alabama,  199  W.  College  St., 
Oberlin,  Ohio 

Pratt,  D wight  M.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903  Pastor  Walnut  Hills  Congregational  Church,  934  Locust  St.,  Cincinnati,  Ohio 

Raymond,  C.  Rexford,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1904  Pastor  Congregational  Church,  314  So.  West  St.,  BeUevue,  Ohio 

Reeder,  Glezen  Asbury,  A.m.,  D.D. 

1904         Presiding  Elder  Cleveland  District;  Chancellor  Baldwin  University,  760  Frank- 
lin Ave.,  Cleveland,  Ohio 

Richmond,  Louis  O. 

1903         Pastor  First  Presbyterian  Church,  Ironton,  Ohio 

RiHBANY,  Abraham  M.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Unitarian  Church,  2416  Fulton  St.,  Toledo,  Ohio 

RowLisoN,  Carlos  C,  Rev. 

1903  Pastor  Christian  Church,  Kenton,  Ohio 

Scott,  George,  Ph.D.,  LL.D. 

1904  President  Otterbein  University,  Westerville,  Ohio 
Shuey,  Edwin  L.,  A.M. 

1903        Member  Lesson  Committee  International  Sunday  School  Association,  Member 
International  Committee  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  204  Central  Ave.,  Dayton,  Ohio 

Shurtleff,  G.  H. 

1903        General  Secretary  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  Cleveland,  Ohio 

Simons,  Minot  O.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Unitarian  Chxurch,  755  Genesee  Ave.,  Cleveland,  Ohio 
Smith,  Henry  Goodwin,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Professor  Lane  Theological  Seminary,  Walnut  HiUs,  Cincinnati,  Ohio 
Smith,  Mrs.  F.  N. 

1903        Editor  and  Publisher  "Bible  Studies,"  130  Harrison  St.,  Elyria,  Ohio 
Smythe,  George  F.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

IQ03         Rector  Harcourt  Parish,  Gambler,  Ohio 

Snedeker,  Charles  H.,  Very  Rev. 

1903        Dean  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  Cincinnati,  Ohio 
SONDERICKER,  JOSEPHINE  E. 

1903        Teacher  Oxford  College,  Oxford,  Ohio 

Stephan,  John  F.,  M.D. 

1903  Asst.    Superintendent   Unitarian   Church   Sunday   School,   21   Nantucket  St. 
Cleveland,  Ohio 

Stevenson,  Richard  Taylor,  Ph.D. 

1904  Professor  Ohio  Wesleyan  University,  Montrose  Ave.,  Delaware,  Ohio 

Swing,  Albert  T.,  A.M. 

1903        Professor  Oberlin  Theological  Seminary,  90  S.  Professor  St.,  Oberlin,  Ohio 

Thompson,  Vv'illiam  Oxley,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

1903         President  Ohio  State  University,  Columbus,  Ohio 

Thwing,  Charles  P.,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

1903         President  Western  Reserve  University,  Cleveland,  Ohio 

Vance,  Selby  F.,  D.D. 

1903         Professor  University  of  Wooster,  Wooster,  Ohio 

Wakefield,  E.  B.,  A.M. 

1903         Professor  Hiram  College,  Hiram,  Ohio 

Walls,  Alfred,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Woodsfield,  Ohio 
Whitmore,  Holmes,  Rev.,  A.M.,  B.D. 

1903         "The  Calvert,"  Dayton,  Ohio 

Wilbur,  Hollis  A. 

1903        General  Secretary  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  Dayton,  Ohio 

Winter,  Alonzo  E.,  Rev.,  S.T.D. 

1903  i6  Bridge  St.,  Shelby,  Ohio 

WiTTENDORF,  MrS.  J.  H.  '  J 

1904  3465  Brookline  Ave.,  Clifton,  Cincinnati,  Ohio 


THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION  603 

OHIO — Continued 
WooDARD,  Mrs.  L.  a.  ^  ,     ,         .  ,.         c    -,,        . 

1003        Teacher  St.  John's  Episcopal  Sunday  School   120  Arlington  St.,  Youngstown, 
Ohio 

Wright,  Hknry  Collier,  Ph.D. 

1903        Superintendent  Union  Bethel,  306-312  E.  Front  St.,  Cincumati,  Ohio 

YODER     C*HARLES  F.     ReV, 

1903        Editor  "Brethren  Evangelist,"  Professor  Ashland  College,  Ashland,  Ohio 

Young,  Tesse  Bowman,  Rev.,  D.D.  .,,    j   .       r^      * 

'     1903        Pastor  Walnut  Hills  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  2418  Ashland  Ave.,  Cincin- 
nati, Ohio 

Zerue,  a.  S.,  Rev.,  Ph.D.,  D.D 

1903  Professor  Heidelberg  Theological  Seminary,  Tiffin,  Ohio 

INSTITUTIONS 

BucHTEL  College 

1904  President,  Augustus  B.  Church,  D.D.,  Akron.  Ohio 
Oberlin  College  Library 

1903         Librarian,  Azariah  S.  Root,  Oberlin,  Ohio 

Ohio  Wesley  an  University  . 

1903  Acting  President,  \V.  F.  Whitlock,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Delaware,  Ohio 

Otteebein  University  . 

1904  President,  George  Scott,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.,  Westerville,  Ohio 

OKLAHOMA 

Reeve,  Emily  A. 

1903        Sunday-School  Worker,  Mills,  Okla. 

OREGON 
Bates,  Henry  L.,  Rev. 

19-J3        Principal  Tualatin  Academy,  Forest  Grove,  Oregon 

Edmunds,  James 

1903        Sunday-School  Missionary  for  Western  Oregon  and  Western  Washington,  Lock 
Box  90,  Portland,  Oregon 

FaRNHAM,  M.A.RY  F. 

1903         Dean  of  Women,  Pacific  University,  Forest  Grove,  Oregon 

Hill,  Edgar  P.,  Rev. 

1903  Pastor  First  Presbyterian  Church,  Portland,  Oregon 

Hutchinson,  Reno,  A.B. 

1904  Portland,  Oregon 

McGrew,  Henry  Eih\'in  * 

IQ04        President  Pacific  College,  Newberg,  Oregon 

Ross,  T.  Thouburn  ,  ^,  .  .     » 

1903        Chairman  Oregon-Idaho  State  Committee  Young  Men's  Christian  Association, 
soo  Main  St.,  Portland,  Oregon 

Smith,  Howard  N.,  Rev.  ^  t,  u,-  u-     c   •  ^ 

iQoj        State  Superintendent  Congregational  Sunday  School  and  Pubhshing  bocietj', 
1005  Hawthorne  Ave.,  Portland,  Oregon 

Smith,  Wilfred  Fernando,  Rev. 

1903        Bay  City,  Oregon 

institutions 
Pacific  University 

1903         President,  William  N.  Ferris,  Forest  Grove,  Oregon 

PENNSYLVANIA 
Anders,  Howard  S.,  M.D. 

1903        1836  Wallace  St.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

.Antrim,  Cl.arence  D.  ^       .       .      „      j       »,  .u  a*. 

1003        Manage-  j*ntrim  Entertainment  Bureau,  Superintendent  Providence  Methodist 
Episcopal  Sunday  School,  loii  Chestnut  St.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 


6o4  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

PENNSY'LVANl  A— Continued 
Bard,  S.  M. 

1904        State  Secretary,  Calder  Bldg.,  Harrisburg,  Pa. 
Bartholomew,  Allen  P..,  Rev.,  D.D.  * 

1904        Clergyman,  1306  Arch  St.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Barilett,  George  Griffiths  * 

1904        Rector  Memorial  Church  of  St.  Paul,  Overbrook,  6347  Woodvine  Ave.,  Phila- 
delphia, Pa. 

Bartlett,  J.  Henry  * 

1903  Superintendent  Friends'  Select  School,  234  No.  20th  St.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Barton,  George  A.,  Ph.D.  * 

1904  Professor  Bryn  Mawr  College,  Bryn  Mawr,  Pa. 

Bartz,  Ulysses  S.,  Rev.,  A.M.,  Ph.D. 

1903  Northeast,  Pa. 

Beesley,  B.  W. 

1904  28  West  Coulter  St.,  Germantown,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Berkowitz,  Henry,  Rabbi  * 

1904        Chancellor  Jewish  Chautauqua  Society,  1539  No.  33  St.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

BiDDLE,  Elizabeth  N.  * 

1904        1812  So.  Rittenhouse  Square,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Bishop,  Frank  D. 

1903        Art  Dealer,  138  So.  loth  St.,  Easton,  Pa. 

Black.all,  C.  R,,  Rev.,  D.D.  * 

1903        Editor  of  Periodicals,  American  Baptist  Publication  Society,  1420  Chestnut  St., 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Blackall,  Mrs.  C.  R.  * 

1903  1420  Chestnut  St.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Blankenburg,  Mrs.  R. 

1904  214  West  Logan  Square,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Blatt,  Tames  N.,  Rev. 

1904        415  Pine  St.,  Lancaster,  Pa. 

BOMBERGER,  Henky  A.,  A.M.,  D.D.,  * 

1903  Vice-President  Temple  College,  2112  No.  17  St.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Bond,  Elizabeth  Powell  * 

1904  Dean  Swarthmore  College,  Swarthmore,  Pa. 

Bradshaw,  A.  H.,  Rev. 

1904        1003  So.  46th  St.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Brown,  Herman  E.  J 

1903        Newcastle,  Pa. 

Brumbaugh,  Martin  G.,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.  * 

1903  Professor  University  of  Pennsylvania,  3324  Walnut  St.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Buchheit,  John  F. 

1904  531  Lancaster  Ave.,  Lancaster,  Pa. 
Butterwick,  Robert  Reuben,  Rev. 

1003         Pastor  United  Brethren  Church,  Palmyra,  Pa. 

Cadbvry,  Emma,  Jr.,  A.B. 

1904        Student,  1502  Green  St.  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Camp,  George  R.  * 

1904        513  So.  4Sth  St.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Carter,  John 

1904        Manufacturing  Chemist,  Bible  Teacher,  24th  and  Bainbridge  Sts.,  Philadelphia 
Pa. 

Cassady,  Mrs.  Ernest  R., 

1904         160S  So.  Broad  St.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Ch.\lfant,  Harry  Malcolm,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1904        Pastor  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  15  Meridcn  St.,  Pittsburg,  Pa. 

Clark,  D.  B.,  Rev. 

1904        19  West  4th  St.,  Bethlehem,  Pa. 

Coffman,  Wilmer  E.  * 

1904        Pastor  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Brandywine,  Pa. 

Cramer,  W.  Stew.art,  Rev.,  A.B. 

1904        Pastor  First  Reformed  Church,  44  East  Orange  St.,  Lancaster,  Pa. 


THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION  605 

PEN'NSYLYANl  A— Continued 
Crouch,  IToeace  Eu(;f.ne 

1903  Kane,  Pa. 

Dana,  Stephen  W.,  D.D.  * 

1904  Pastor  Walnut  St.  Presbyterian  Church,  3925  Walnut  St.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Day,  Dwight  H. 

1904         Bible-Class  Teacher,  I.an  1  Title  Bldg.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Delk,  Edwin  Heyl,  Rev.,  D.D.  * 

1904        Pastor  St.  Matthew's  Lutheran  Church,  630  Broad  St.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

DiCKERT,  Thomas  W.,  Rev.  * 

1904        Pastor  St.  Stephen's  Reformed  Church,  7^5  No.  iilh  St.,  Reading,  Pa. 

DiMM,  Jonathan  R.,  Rev.,  D.P. 

iy03         Professor  Susquehanna  University,  Sehns  Grove,  Pa. 

Dorchester,  Daniel,  Jr.,  Rev.,  Ph.D.,  D.D. 

1903  Pastor  Christ  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  5520  Baum  St.,  Pittsburg,  Pa. 
DcUGLA.S,  W.A.LTER  C.  * 

1904  General   Secretary   Young   Men's   Christian   Association,    loi    So.    isth   St., 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Drown,  T.  M. 

1904        President  Lehigh  University,  .South  Bethlehem,  Pa. 
DuBois,  Patterson 

1903         Editor  and  Author,  Westchester,  Pa. 

Elkinton,  Joseph,  Rev.  j^= 

1903  Minister  of  Friends,  817  Mifflin  St.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Ellis,  William  T.  * 

1904  Religious  Editor  "  Philadelphia  Pre.ss,"  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Evans,  Milton  G..  * 

1904        Professor  Crozer  Theological  Seminary,  Chester,  Pa. 

Evans,  Thomas  St.  Clmr  * 

1904  Secretary-Treasurer,  Christian  Association  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania, 
Houston  Hall,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

EwiNG,  Homer  H. 

1903         Asst.  Superintendent  Sunday  School,  1705  Fourth-Ave.,  New  Brighton,  Pa. 

Fowler,  Bertha 

1903         611  Vine  St.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Garrett,  Alfred  Cope,  Ph.D.  * 

1903         Bible  Teacher,  705  Church  Ave.,  Germantown,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Haioh,  Mary  V. 

1903  Sunday-School  Teacher,  Teacher's  Trainmg  Class,  3048  No.  15th  St.,  Phila 
delphia,  Pa. 

Haines,  Amos  H.  * 

1905  Professor  Juniata  College,  1331  Mifflin  St.,  Huntingdon,  Pa. 

Hasham,  J.  Henry,  Rev.  * 

1904  Pastor  Geth.semane  Paptist  Church,  1513  North  19th  St.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 
HaVILAND,  W.A.LTKR  WiNSHIP,  A.B.  * 

1903         Teacher  Friends  Select  School,  416  Wycombe  Ave.,  Lansdowne,  Pa. 

Hay,  Robert  L.,  Rev 

1003         Pastor  United  Presbyterian  Church,  1503  Third  Ave.,  New  Brighton,  Pa. 

Heebner,  Flora  Krauss,  A.B.  * 

1903         City  Missionary,  2535  North  30th  St.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Heinz,  H.  J.  t* 

1903         Manufacturer,  Pittsburg,  Pa. 

Holmes,  Jesse  H.,  Ph.D.  * 

1903         Professor  Swarthmore  College,  Swarthmore,  Pa. 

Hoover,  Oliver  P.,  A.M.  * 

1903  Professor  Juniata  College,  Huntingdon,  Pa. 

Housekeeper,  H.  M. 

1904  1920  No.  7th  St..  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Houston,  James  W. 

1903        Merchant,  Superintendent  First  Reformed  Presbyterian  Sunday  School,  33S 
Pacific  Ave.,  Pittsburg,  Pa. 


6o6  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

PENNSYLVANIA— Continued 
HuBER,  Eli,  D.D.  * 

1903  Professor  Pennsylvania  College,  Gettysburg,  Pa. 

Hutchinson,  Edward  S. 

1904  Civil  and  Mining  Engineer,  Newtown,  Pa. 

Jackson,  Henry  E.,  Rev. 

1904        Minister,  Swarthmore,  Pa. 

Jenanyan,  H.  S.,  Rev. 

1904         1301  Divinity  PL,  Philadelphia,  Pa.  ' 

John,  Lewis  F.,  A.M.,  D.D. 

1904         Professor  Lebanon  Valley  College,  Annville,  Pa. 

Johnson,  E.  E.  S.,  Rev.  * 

1903        Pastor  First  Schwenckfeldian  Church,  253.5  North  30th  St.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Johnson,  George  K.  * 

'  1904        Vice-President  Pennsylvania  Mutual  Life  Insurance  Co.,  921   Chestnut  St., 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Jones,  Philip  L.,  Rev.,  D.D.  * 

1903         Book  Editor  American  Baptist  Publication  Society,  Editorial  Writer  "Baptist 
Commonwealth,"  1420  Chestnut  St.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Jones,  Rufus  M.,  A.M.,  Litt.D.  * 

1903  Professor  Haverford  College,  Haverford,  Pa. 

Keirn,  L.  M.,  Rev. 

1904  2541  W.  Lehigh  Ave.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Kennedy,  Mrs.  M.  G.  * 

1904        Editor  Sunday  School  Periodicals,  1426  Master  St.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Kloss,  Ch.'^rles  L.,  Rev.  * 

1904        Pastor  Central  Congregational  Church,  18th  and  Green  Sts.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Kribs,  Herbert  Guy,  Rev.  * 

1903  Pastor  Presbyterian  Church,  Chestnut  Hill,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Kriebel,  Oscar  P.,  A.M.  * 

1904  Minister  and  Principal  Perkiomen  Seminary,  Schwenckfeldian  Church,  Perins- 
burg.  Pa. 

Lanier,  M.  E.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Grace  Memorial  Presbyterian  Church,  Pittsburg,  Pa. 

Lee,  Israel  S.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Wvlie  Avenue  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  25  Overhill  St., 
Pittsburg,  Pa. 

LiCHLITER,  McLlYAR  HAMILTON 
1903         Verona,  Pa. 

LiNHART,  S.  B.,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1903  President  Blairsville  College,  Blairsville,  Pa. 

Llewellepc,  Alice  A.. 

1904  Shamokin,  Pa. 

MacAllister,  James,  LL.D.  * 

1904        President  Drexel  Institute  (Episcopal),  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Mahy,  George  G.  * 

1904        General  Secretary  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  Scranton,  Pa. 

McClenahan,  David  A. 

1903  Professor  Allegheny  Theological  Seminary,  Allegheny,  Pa. 

McLean,  Joseph  K. 

1904  Superintendent  First  Baptist  Sunday  School,  510  Parker  St.,  Chester,  Pa. 

Michael,  Oscar  S.,  Rev.  * 

1903         Rector  .St.  John's  Church,  3247  No.  15th  St.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Miller,  Rufus  W.,  Rev.,  D.D.  * 

1903  Secretary  Sunday  School  Board  of  the  Reformed  Church,  1308  Arch  .St.,  Phila- 
delphia, Pa. 

Mills,  J .  S  . ,  Rev. 

1904  Bishop  United  Brethren  in  Christ,  Annville,  Pa. 

Morris,  Margaretta  * 

1903  Teacher  Holland  Memorial   Presbyterian   Sunday   School,   2:06   Spruce   St., 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Myers,  Tobias  Timothy  * 

1904  Clergyman  First  Brethren  Chiu"ch,  2260  No.  Park  Ave,,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 


THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION  607 

TENNSYLY  ANl  A— Continued 
Neff,  Silas  F,.,  Ph.D.  * 

1904         President  Neff  College,  238  West  Logan  Sq.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Nicholson,  Mrs.  W.  R.  * 

1904         3610  Chestnut  St.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

NOBLIT,  JOSF.PH  C.  * 

1904         Sunday  School  and  Christian  Endeavor  Worker,  1521  No.  Broad  St.,  Philadel- 
phia, Pa. 

Omwake,  George  Leslie,  A.M.  * 

IQ03        Dean  Ursinus  College,  Collegeville,  Pa. 

OVIATT,  F.  C.  * 

1904         Sunday-School  Superintendent,  421  Chestnut  St.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Perkins,  Penrose  * 

1904         Sunday-School  Superintendent,  ^745  Green  St.,  Germantown,  Philadelphia,  Pa 

Ranck,  Henry  H.,  Rev.  * 

1904        Pastor  Reformed  Church,  1431  Perkiomen  Ave.,  Reading,  Pa. 

Reed,  George  Edward,  ?.T.D.,  LL.D. 

1904        President  Dickinson  College,  Carlisle,  Pa. 

Reed,  Luther  D.,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1904         Pastor  Holy  Trinity  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church,  Jeannette,  Pa. 

Rehrig,  W.  M.,  Rev.,  Ph.D. 

1903         Pastor  St.  John's  Lutheran  Church,  Mauch  Chunk,  Pa. 

Richards,  Louis  J.,  Rev. 

1903  Pastor  Universalist  Church,  Sharpsville,  Pa. 

Robertson,  J.  M.,  Rev. 

1904  Rector  Emmanuel  Church,  Emporium,  Pa. 

Robinson,  Joseph  M.,  Rev.,  Ph.D. 

1904        Pastor  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church,  Millsboro,  Pa. 

RoMic,  Edwin  Howard 

1904        Minister,  124  Charlotte  St.,  Lancaster,  Pa. 

Roth,  Charles  E. 

1904        Boyertown,  Pa. 

Rynearson,  Edward,  A.M. 

1903  Director  of  High  Schools,  623  Bellfonte  St.,  Pittsburg,  Pa. 

Sanford,  Caroline  H.  * 

1904  Deaconess,  708  Spruce  St.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Schaeffer,  Nathan  C,  Ph.D.,  D.D.,  LL.D.  * 

1903         State  Superintendent  of  Instruction,  546  W.  James  St.,  Lancaster,  Pa. 

Senior,  Daniel  L.,  D.D. 

1903  President  Senior  Collegiate  and  Industrial  Institute,  34  Adams  St.,  Rankin,  Pa. 

Shaw,  Charles  F.,  Rev.,  A.M.  * 

1904  1837  No.  13th  St.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Shaw,  Daniel  W.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Pastor  Warren  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  46  Enoch  St.,  Pittsbjrg,  Pa. 

Singmastfr,  J.  A.,  D.D. 

1903        Professor  Evangelical  Lutheran  Theological  Seminary,  Gettysburg,  Pa. 

Slade,  William  F.,  Rev. 

1903  Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  4th  St.,  Braddock,  Pa. 

Smith,  Alexander  Mackay,  Rt.Rev.,  D.D.,  * 

1004        Bishop  Coadjutor  of  the  Diocese  of  Pennsylvania,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 
Smith,  Howard  Wayne,  Rev.  * 

1904  Pastor  South  Broad  Street  Baptist  Church,  1326  Morris  St.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Southworth,  Franklin  C,  A.M.,  R.T.D. 

1003         President  Meadville  Theological  School,  si8  Chestnut  St.,  Meadville,  Pa. 

Spicer,  R.  Barclay,  Rev.  * 

1903  Assoc.  Editor  "Friends'  Intelligencer,"  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Stevenson,  T.  P.  * 

1904  Pastor  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church,  1233  So.  47th  St.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Stewart,  Everett 

1904        Western  Mortgage  Collections,  1346  Chestnut  St.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

St.  John,  Edward  P. 

1903        Bible-Class  Teacher,  733  Chislett  St.,  Pittsburg,  Pa. 


6o8  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

PENNSYLVANIA— Co«//;n<e«i 
Sutherland,  Allan  * 

1904        President  Sunday  School  and  Church  Supply  Dept.,  1319  Walnut  St.,  Phila- 
delphia, Pa. 

Swain,  Joseph,  LL.D.  * 

1904        President  Swarthmore  College,  Swarthmore,  Pa. 

T.A.TLOCK,  William,  Rev.,  .\.M.  * 

1903  Walnut  and  2 ist  Sts.,  Philadelphia  Pa. 

Thomers,  Henry  H.,  Rev.  * 

1904  Pastor  Baptist  Church,  Newton  Square,  Pa. 

ToMKiNS,  Floyd  W.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903  Rector  Holy  Trinity  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  1904  Walnut   St.,  Phila- 
delphia, Pa. 

Tyler,  Coeydon  C,  Rev.  * 

1904  Pastor  Trinity  Presbyterian  Church,  Chestnut  Hill,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Walton,  George  A.  * 

1903  President  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  School,  University  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, George  School,  Pa. 

Walton,  Joseph  S.,  Ph.D.  * 

1904  Principal  George  School,  George  School,  Pa. 

Wanamaker,  John,  Hon.  * 

1904        Merchant,  2032  Walnut  St.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Watson,  Charles  M.,  Rev. 

1903  Connellsville,  Pa. 

Wickershane,  William  F. 

1904  Principal  WesttowTi  Boarding  School,  Westtown,  Pa. 

Wiest,  Edward  Franklin,  Rev.  * 

iyo4        Minister  Reformed  Church,  1206  Wallace  St.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Wilbur,  J.  Milnor,  Rev.  * 

1904        Pastor  Baptist  Church,  Narberth,  Pa. 

Williams,  Albert  B.,  B.S.,  LL.B.  * 

1904        Secretary  Sunday  School  of  Society  for  Ethical  Culture,  Jenkintown,  Pa. 

Williams,  George  G.  * 

1004        Minister,  44  East  Essex  Ave.,  Landsownie,  Pa. 

Winston,  John  C.  * 

1904         PubHsher,  Germantown,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Zimmerman,  Adam,  Rev.,  A.M.,  S.T.D. 

1903  Pastor  Reformed  Church,  Elizabethville,  Pa. 

institutions 
Dickinson  College 

1904  President,  George  E.  Reed,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Carlisle,  Pa. 
First  Presbyterian  Church 

1903  George  D.  Rambo,  Easton,  Pa. 

Swarthmore  College 

1904  President,  Joseph  Swain,  LL.D  ,  Swarthmore,  Pa. 

PHILIPPINE  ISLANDS 
Chenoweth,  a.  E.,  Rev. 

1904        Missionary  Methodist  Episcopal  Mission  of  the  PhiUppine  Islands,  Baliung, 
Bulacan,  Phil.  Islands 

RHODE  ISLAND 
Adams,  Frederick  C. 

1904         274  Benefit  St.,  Providence,  R.  I. 

Bradner,  Lester,  Jr.,  Rev.,  Ph.D.  * 

1903         Rector  St.  John's  Episcopal  Church,  144  Benefit  St.,  Providence,  R.  I. 

Butterfield,  Kenyon  I,. 

1903         Kingston,  R.  I. 

Buxton,  Wilson  R.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  United  Congregational  Church,  Little  Compton,  R.  I. 


THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION  609 

RHODE  ISLAND— Cow/znwed 
Dennen,  Ernest  J.,  Rev.  ^       .       xt  r,  t 

1904         Rector  Trinity  Church,  2  Red  Cross  Ave.,  Newport,  R.  1. 

DiMAN,  John  B.,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1903  Head  Master  St.  George's  School,  Newport,  R.  I. 

DowiNG,  G.  Fay 

1904  Pharmacist,  31  School  St.,  Newport,  R.  1. 

Faunce,  William  H.  P.,  D.D.  * 

1903        President  P.rown  University,  Providence,  R.  I. 

Fowler,  Henry  Th.\tcher,  Ph.D.  * 

1903         Professor  Brown  University,  Providence,  R.  I. 

Fuller,  Arthur  A.,  M.E.  .     ,  ^    j     c, ,.    ,         n     r .  c* 

1903         Superintendent  Beneficent  Congregational  Sunday  School,  401   Benefit  bt. 
Providence,  R.I. 

Hood,  William  Lenoir,  Rev.  ^      o    „  •    i  r>  t 

1903         Pastor  State  Street  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  129  State  St.,  Bristol,  K..  1. 

Horton,  Lyman  G.,  Rev.  .  u  t,  t 

1903         Principal  East  Greenwich  Academy,  East  Greenwich,  K.  1. 

McClelland,  T.  Calvin,  Rev.,  Ph.D.  ^        ^, 

1903         Pastor  United  Congregational  Church,  4  Mt.  Vernon  Court,  Newport,  K.  1. 

McCrillis,  a.  B.  ^  .     ,  .       .   .  D     J        D     ■ 

1903        Vice-President  International  Sunday  School  Association,  171  Broadway,  Provi- 
dence, R.  I. 

McViCKAR,  William  N.,  Rev.,  D.D.,  S.T.D. 

1903        Bishop  of  Rhode  Island,  Providence,  R.  I. 

Mead,  George  W.,  Rev.  ^  ^^     ,■    «   1   xt        .  r  t* 

1003         Pastor  First  Presbyterian  Church,  Broadway  and  Equality  Park,  Newport,  K.  i. 

Root,  Edward  Tallmadge,  Rev.  ,  .     o    „      j        t>  t 

1903         Pastor  Elmwood  Temple  (Congregational),  16  Redwmg  St.,  Providence,  R.  1. 

Root,  Theophilus  H.,  A.M.  .      ,  ^,.     u   ^,       n  i 

1903         Pastor  Wood  River  Junction  Congregational  Church,  Alton,  K.  I. 

Rousmaniere,  E.  S.,  Rev. 

1903         Rector  Grace  Church,  97  Angell  St.,  Providence,  R.  I. 

Sanderson,  Edward  F.,  Rev.  ^,   „     . , 

1903         Pastor  Central  Congregational  Church,  20  Diman  PI.,  Providence,  R.  1. 

Selleck,  Willard  C,  Rev.  ,.  .       ^  c     n     %■         u  t 

1903         Pastor  Church  of  the  Mediator  (Umversalist),  84  Burnett  St.,  Providence,  R.  1. 

Thompson,  W.  Ashton,  Rev.  ,    .    „,         ,      „  t 

1903         Rector  St.  James  Episcopal  Church,  34  Hamlet  St.,  V\  oonsocket,  K.  1. 

Walcott,  Gregory  D.,  Rev.  ,     .„    t,  t  * 

1903         Pastor  Memorial  Congregational  Church,  Saylesville,  K.  1. 

Wilson,  George  G.,  Ph.D. 

1903         Professor  Brown  University,  Providence,  R.  I. 

Wilson,  Willard  B.  ,        t,  t 

1903  State  Sunday  School  Secretary,  Y.  M.  C.  A.  Bldg.,  Providence  R.  I. 

SOUTH  CAROLINA 
Carlisle,  James  H. 

1904  Spartanburg,  So.  Car. 

Snyder,  Henry  Nelson,  Litt.D. 

1904        President  Wolford  College,  140  College  Place,  Spartanburg,  So.  Car. 

Thomas,  A.  T-  S-  „    c-    r- 

1903        Editor  "Baptist  Courier,"  120  Washington  St.,  Greenville,  So.  Car. 

SOUTH  DAKOTA 
Hare,  William  Hobart,  Rev.,  S.T.D.  ^  „    c    r.  v 

1903         Bishop  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  of  South  Dakota,  Sioux  Falls,  So.  Vak. 

Leach,  Frank  P.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  First  Baptist  Church,  Sioux  ialls.  So.  Dak. 


6io  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

SOUTH  DA.-K.OTk— Continued 
Mattson,  Bernard  G.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  Yankton,  So.  Dak. 

Nicholson,  Thomas,  D.D. 

1903         President  Dakota  University,  Mitchell,  So.  Dak. 

Norton,  A.  Wellington,  Rev.,  A.M.,  LL.D. 

1903         Madison,  So.  Dak. 

Norton,  Susan  W. 

1903         Critic  State  Normal  School,  Madison,  So.  Dak. 

Orr,  E.  a.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Church  of  Christ,  912  \V.  9th  St.,  Sioux  Falls,  So.  Dak. 
Peabody,  Helen  L. 

1903         Principal  All  Saints  School,  Sioux  Falls,  So.  Dak. 

Seymour,  A.  H.,  Rev. 

1903        Principal  of  Schools,  Pastor  Church  of  Christ,  Arlington,  So.  Dak. 
Thrall,  W.  Herbert,  Rev. 

1903        State  Superintendent  Congregational  Home  Missionary  Society,  702  Dakota 
Ave.,  Huron,  So.  Dak. 

TreFethren,  Eugene  B.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Ipswich,  So.  Dak. 

TENNESSEE 
Beale,  George  Livingstone,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Methodi.st  Episcopal  Church,  South,  Sparta,  Tenn. 

Carre,  Henry  Beach  * 

1903         Profes.sor  Vanderbilt  University,  Nashville,  Tenn. 

Carter,  Thomas 

1903         Professor  Vanderbilt  University,  Nashville,  Tenn. 

Clarke,  James  E.,  Rev. 

1903        Editor  "Cumberland  Presbyterian,"  819  So.  Addison  Ave.,  Nashville,  Tenn 
Cuninggim,  Jesse  Lee,  Rev.  * 

1903         Director  Correspondence  School  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  Vander- 
bilt University,  Nashville,  Tenn. 

Dabney,  Charles  W.,  Ph.D.,  LL.D. 

1903         President  University  of  Tennessee,  KnoxvOle,  Tenn. 

Davison,  J.  O.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Institute  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church,  882  Mississippi  Ave.  Mem- 
phis, Tenn. 

Foster,  R.  V.,  D.D. 

1903         Professor  Theological  Seminary,  Cumberland  University,  Lebanon,  Tenn 

Hammond,  J.  D.  * 

1903        Secretary  of  Education,  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  Nashville,  Tenn. 
Henry,  James  R.,  Rev. 

1903        Dean  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Theological  Seminary,  Lebanon,  Tenn. 
Hill,  Felix  R.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Pastor  Elm  St.  Methodist   Episcopal  Church,  527  Stevenson  Ave.,  Nashville, 
Tenn. 

Hinds,  J.  I.  D.,  Ph.D. 

iyo3         Professor  University  of  Nashville,  Nashville,  Tenn. 

KiRKLAND,  James  H.,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.  * 

1903         Chancellor  Vanderbilt  University,  Na.shville,  Tenn. 

Logan,  William  C,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1903        Asst.  Editor  "Cumberland  Presbyterian,"  Nashville,  Tenn. 

Mannheimer,  Leo,  Rabbi 

1504         508  East  5th  St.,  Chattanooga,  Term. 

McGiLL,  Stephenson  W. 

1903         State  Secretary  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  1509  Laurel   St.,   Nash- 
ville, Tenn. 

McKamy,  John  A.,  Rev. 

1903         Editor  Sunday-School   Publications  of  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church, 
President  International  Sunday  School  Editorial  Association,  Nashville,  Tenn. 


THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION  6ii 

TENNESSEE— Co«/w«ed 


MiTCHELi,,  David  E 


1904 


President  Cumberland  University,  Lebanon,  Tenn. 


OLSON,  CHAKLES  WlLLARD^^^  ^^^^^_  ^^^  ^^^  ^^  Chattanooga.  Tenn. 
P^^^^«''^f^^""^1,"c?to?  ••E^S^'Era."  .  University  S...  NashviUe,  Tenn. 
PILCHER,  M^B.     ^^^^^^^^  Monteagle  Summer  Assembly.  Nashville,  Tenn. 

PrOVINE,  W^A.,  Rev^  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church  President  Board  of  Publication 

jgo3        ^{='f;^°/(iu^i,erland  Presbyterian  Church,  4  Mayes  PI.,  Columbia,  Tenn 

Root,  Tames  Winston 

1904        923  RusseU  St..  NashvUle,  Tenn. 

RUST,  JA^^^^S^y^^5];°^p,,,yent  Young   Men's  Christian  Association,  Superintendent  McKen- 
^ "        dree  Methodist  Episcopal   Sunday   School,  923  Russell  St..  Nashville,  Tenn. 

Taylor,  William  B.,  Rev. 

1904        Bellbuckle,  Tenn. 

THROOP,  PhaRIS  T.^^^^^  ^^^^^  Northwestern  Mutual  life  Insurance  Co..  68  So.  4th  St..  Nash- 

viUe  Tenn. 
TILLETT,  WILBUR  F^^AM.^D.D^^^^^^^^  ^_^^^^^^.^^  ^,^.^^^^.  ^_  ^^^^^.^^_  ^^^ 

Webb   Tohn  M.,  LL.D.  ^ 

1903        Principal  Webb  School,  Bellbuckle,  Tenn. 

WEBB,  WILLIAM  R^.^^^.^^^  ^^^^^^  ^^^^^,_  ^^^^^^^^^^  ^^^^ 

WHITE,  JAMES  I^ANTEL,  REV^^^^^^  ^^^^^^^^.^^  ^^^^^^  ^.^^^^^^  ^^^. 

Wiggins,  B.  L.      ^,.^^  (,j^^^^g„^^  University  of  the  South.  Sewanee.  Tenn. 

institutions 
Belmont  College  for  Young  Ladies 

1004         Principals,  Misses  Hood  and  Heron,  Nashville,  Tenn. 

Ward  Seminary  for  Young  Ladies 

1004        President,  J.  D.  Blanton,  LL.D..  Nashville,  Tenn. 

TEXAS 

Eby,  Frederick,  Ph.D. 

1903  Professor  Baylor  University,  Waco,  Texas 

Griggs,  A.  R.,  Rev^^^^^;;^,,^,,^^  „{  Missions,  Associate  Editor  "Western  Star."  32S  HaU 

St.  Dallas  Texas 
Hodges,  B.^^.,  Rf.V.^^^  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church.  Temple,  Texas  ^ 

Inman,  S.  G.,  Rev. 

1904  Fort  Worth,  Texas 

Toinee,  R.  E.,  Rev. 

1903        Cooper,  Texas 

Kaighn,  Edward  B.,  M.D.  . 

1903        Bible-Class  Teacher,  San  Antomo,  Texas 
MaNTON,  Charles,  Rev.^^^  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church,  Paris.  Texas 

MOORE,  J0fj3M.,^REy..  PH^D.^^^.^^  ^^.^^^p^,  Church,  South,  2,7  Live  Oak  St..  DaUas. 

Texas 
OaKES,  R.  WelTON,  Rev.^^^^^^^^  p,esbv1erian  Church,  Coleman,  Texas 


6i2  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

TEXAS— Continued 
Peck,  Jennie  L. 

1904        Principal  Caroline   Bishop  Missionary  Training  School,   123  Florence  St. 
Pallas,  Texas 

Peebles,  Francis  H. 

1904        Alvord,  Texas 

Sanderson,  E.  Dwight,  B.S. 

1903        College  Station,  Texas 
Smith,  E.  Sinclair,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903  Pastor  Westminster  Presbyterian  Church,  1304  McKinney  Ave.,  Houston 
Texas 

Smith,  J.  Frank,  Rev. 

i9r3        Pa.«toi  First  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church,  Dallas,  Texas 

White,  Alfred  T.,  A.B.  J 

1904  League  City,  Texas 

Woods,  James  H.  J 

1903        Attorney  and  Counselor-at-Law,  Corsicana,  Texas 
Yates,  Callin  W.,  Rev. 

1903         Ballinger,  Texas 

institutions 
Baylor  University 

1903  President,  Samuel  P.  Brooks,  A.M.,  Waco,  Texas 

Prairie  View  State  Normal  and  Industrial  College 

1904  Principal,  E.  L.  Blackshear,  Prairie  View,  Texas 

Southwestern  University 

1903        Regent,  Robert  S.  Hyer,  LL.D.,  Georgetown,  Texas 

UTAH 
Clemenson,  Newton  E.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Presbyterian  Church,  I  ogan,  Utah 

VERMONT 
Barnes,  Stephen  G.,  Rev 

1903        Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Saint  Johnsbury,  Vt. 
Beard,  Gerald  H.,  Rev.,  Ph.D. 

1903        Pastor  College  Street  Congregational  Church,  71  S.  Willard  St.,  Biurlington,  Vt 

Cabot,  Mary  F. 

1903        Sunday-School  Teacher,  Bratileboro,  Vt. 
Chapman,  Edward  M.,  Rev. 

1903         Saint  Johnsbury,  Vt. 

Davies,  R.  R.,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1903        Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Vergennes,  Vt. 

Dee,  Ellen  Post 

1903        Public-School  Teacher,  ^9  Fairfie'd  St.,  St.  Albans,  Vt. 
Ferrin,  Allan  C,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Springfield,  Vt. 

Hold  EN,  Arthur  J. 

1903        Manufacturer  Fancy  Dress  Goods,  Sunday-School  Teacher,  Bennington,  Vt, 
KiLBTjRN,  J.  K.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Bamet,  Vt. 
Ladd,  George  Edwin,  Rev. 

1903  Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Randolph,  Vt. 
LoDER,  A.  L.,  Rev. 

1904  Thetford,  Vt. 

Lyman,  Louise  H. 

1904         White  River  Junction,  Vt. 

Miles,  Harry  R.,  Rev. 

1003         Pastor  Central  Congregational  Church,  Brattleboro,  Vt. 

Morris,  Frank  R.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  First  Baptist  Church,  301  Pleasant  St.,  Benninf,ton,  Vt. 


THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION  613 

VERMONT— Continued 
Morse,  Warren,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  Bennington,  Vt. 
Phillips,  Georoe  W.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        23  Court  St.,  Rutland,  Vt. 
RouNDY,  Rodney  W.,  Rev. 

IV04        Pastor  Congregational  Church,  I-udlow,  Vt. 
Sew.\ll,  John  L.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  St.  Albans,  Vt. 
Slayton,  Henry  A. 

1903        Superintendent  Congregational  Sunday  School,  Park  St.,  Morrisville,  Vt. 
Smith,  Clifford  H..  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Pitt«ford,  Vt. 

Strayer,  Luther  Milton,  Rev.,  A.M.  * 

1903        Pastor  Second  Congregational  Church,  Hartford,  Vt. 

VIRGINIA 
Alderman,  Edwin  A.,  D.C.L.,  LL.D. 

President,  University  of  Virginia,  Charlottesville,  Va. 

Belsan,  Edward 

1903        Prince  George  C.  H.,  Va. 

Grammer,  Carl  E.,  Rev.,  S.T.D. 

1903        Rector  Christ  Church,  260  York  St.,  Norfolk,  Va. 
Haley,  Jesse  J.,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1903        Pastor  Seventh  St.  Christian  Church,  cor.  7th  and  Grace  Sts.,  Richmond,  Va. 
Hicks,  Joseph  Emerson,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1903  Danville,  Va. 

Howe,  James  L.,  Ph.D. 

1904  Professor  Washington  and  Lee  University,  Lexington,  Va. 

Jones,  Thomas  Jesse,  A.M.  * 

1904        Assoc.  Chaplain  and  Teacher,  Pres.  Hampton  Institute,  Hampton,  Va. 

Lewis,  F.  G. 

1903        Professor  Virginia  Union  University,  Richmond,  Va. 

Miner,  Mrs.  Harriet  Harkness  J 

1903         Petersburg,  Va. 

Mitchell,  Samuel  C,  Ph.D. 

1903  Professor  Richmond  College,  Richmond    Va. 

Rockwell,  Adeline  B.,  B.L. 

1904  Assistant,  Hampton  Institute  Library,  Hampton,  Va. 

ToTUsfeK,  Vincent,  Rev. 

1903  Missionary   Pastor   Bethlehem   Congregational   Church   of   Begonia,   Prince 
George,  Va. 

WASHINGTON 
Anderson,  L.  F. 

1904  Professor  Whitman  College,  364  Boyer  Ave.,  Walla  Walla,  Wash. 

Burwell,  a.  S. 

1904        Sunday-School  Teacher,  2200  4th  Ave.,  Seattle,  Wash. 

Burwell,  E.  B. 

1904        Sunday-School  Teacher,  323  7th  Ave.,  Seattle,  Wash. 

Cooper,  Frank  B. 

1904        Superintendent  of  Schools,  Seattle,  Wash. 
Greene,  S.\muel,  Rev. 

1904        State  Superintendent  Congregational  Sundav  School  and  Publishing  Society, 
51 5  Bell  St.,  Seattle,  Wash. 

Horne,  I.  W. 

1004     Professor  Whitman  College,  Walla  Walla,  Wash. 

KiLBOURNE,  E.  C,  Dr. 

1904        1203  Summit  Ave.,  Seattle,  Wash. 


6i4  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

WASHINGTON— Continued 
Leech,  William  H.,  Rev.,  A.M. 

ioo.(        Pasior  University  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  4243  12th  Ave.,  N.  E.,  Seattle, 
Wash. 

Lewis,  William  H.,  LL.B. 

1904        Sunday-School  Superintendent,  421  Belmont  Ave.  N.,  Seattle,  Wash. 
LiTTLEFIELD,  GeORGE  B. 

1904        Sunday-School  Teacher,  525  loth  Ave.  N.,  Seattle,  Wash. 
Lyon,  Elwood  P.,  Rev.,  Ph.D. 

1903        Pastor  First  Baptist  Church,  Ritzville,  Wash. 
McLeod,  Donald 

1903         Merchant,  1722  Riverside  Ave.,  Spokane,  Wash. 

Merritt,  W.  C,  Rev. 

1903        Editor  and  Publisher  "Sunday-School  Worker   of   the   Pacific   Northwest," 
1 1 10  S.  4th  St.,  Tacoma,  Wash. 

Penrose,  Stephen  B.  L. 

1903        President  Whitman  College,  Walla  Walla,  Wash. 
Rice,  Austin,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  415  E.  Sumach  St.,  Walla  Walla,  Wash. 

Smith,  Edward  Lincoln,  Rev. 

1903  Pastor  Pilgrim  Congregational  Church,  725  14th  Ave.,  Seattle,  Wash. 

Smith,  Everett 

1904  408  Boston  Blk.,  Seattle,  Wash. 

institutions 
Whitman  College 

1904        President,  Stephen  B.  L.  Penrose,  Walla  Walla,  Wash. 

WEST  VIRGINIA 

Davis,  William  W.,  Rev.,  A.M.,  Ph.D. 

1903        Pastor  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  118  Jones  St.,  Piedmont.  W.  Va. 

Deahl,  J.  N. 

1903  Professor  University  of  We.st  Virginia,  Morganlown,  W.  Va. 

Lynch,  John  C. 

1904  General  Secretary  Yoimg  Men's  Christian  Association,  cor.  Market  and  20th 
Sis.,  Wheeling,  W.  Va. 

Purinton,  Daniel  B.,  Ph.D.,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

1903  President  University  of  We.it  Virginia,  Morgantown,  W.  Va. 

institutions 
West  Virginia  University 

1904  President,  Daniel  B.  Purinton,  Ph.D.,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Morgantown,  W.  Va. 

WISCONSIN 

Beale,  Charles  H.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1903        Pastor  Grand  Avenue  Congregational  Church,  Milwaukee,  Wis. 

Bestor,  O.  p..  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Bay  View  Baptist  Church,  331  Clement  Ave.,  Milwaukee,  Wis. 

Blaisdell,  J'^mes  a.,  Rev. 

1003         Professor  Beloit  College,  Beloit,  Wis. 

Breed,  Reuben  L.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  Menomonee,  Wis. 

Chapin,  Robert  C,  A.M. 

1903         Profes.sor  Beloit  College,  Beloit,  Wis. 

Cheney,  B.  Royal 

1903         Pastor  Second  Congregational  Church    122  W.  East  St.,  Beloit,  Wis. 

Coffin,  W.  K. 

1003         Vice-President  and  Cashier  Eau  Claiie  National  Bank,  Eau  Claire,  Wis. 

Crawford,  J-  Forsyth,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1903         Pastor  Baptist  Church,  Beaverdam,  Wis- 


THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION  615 

WISCONSIN— Continued 

Deane,  John  Pitt,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Congregational  Church  and  Instructor  North  Wisconsin  Academy,  Sao 
Ellis  Ave.,  Ashland,  Wis. 

Eaton,  Edward  D.,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

1903         President  Beloit  College,  847  CoUege  Ave.,  Beloit,  Wis. 

EDMtTNDS,  E.  B.,  Rev. 

1903        Missionary  Baptist  Sunday  Schools,  Beaverdam,  Wis. 

Ferris,  H.  J.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Columbus,  Wis. 
Frizzell,  John  W.,  Rev.,  A.M.,  Ph.D. 

1903        Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  Eau  Claire,  Wis. 

Frost,  Edward  W. 

1903        Member  State  Executive  Committee  Young  Men's    Christian  Association 
Attorney  and  Counselor-at-Law,  Wells  Bldg.,  Milwaukee,  Wi.s. 

Halsey,  Rufus  Henry 

1903        Principal  State  Normal  School,  Oshkosb,  Wis. 
Hannum,  Henry  Oliver,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Confiregational  Church,  Superior,  Wis. 

Henderson,  Herman  C,  A.M. 

1903        Teacher  State  Normal  School,  Milwaukee,  Wis. 
HoBEN,  T.  Allan,  Rev.,  Ph.D. 

1903         Pastor  Union  Church,  Waupun,  Wis. 

Hughes,  Richard  Cecil,  D.D.  • 

1903         President  Ripon  College,  Rijxin,  Wis. 

Hoistend.\hl,  Anders  W.,  Rev. 

1903        United  Norwegian  Lutheran  Church  of  America,  MerriU,  Wis. 
KuNKLE,  Edward  C,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Baptist  Church,  255  Deming  St.,  Kenosha,  Wis. 

Magee,  Harriet  Cecil  * 

1903  Art  Teacher  State  Normal  School,  Oshkosh,  Vi'is. 

Mathie,  Karl 

1904  Superintendent  of  Schools,  Wausau,  Wis. 

McKenny,  Charles 

1903        President  State  Normal  School,  Milwaukee,  Wis. 

Myers,  J.  O. 

1903        Sunday-School  Teacher,  Secretary  Public  Library,  123  E.  Milwatxkee  Ave, 
Wauwatosa,  Wis. 

Nicholas,  R.  W.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Linden,  Wis. 

Parsons,  J.  Rev. 

19C4         Roberts,  Wis. 

Plantz,  S.amxjel,  Ph.D.,  D.D. 

1903        President  Lawrence  University,  Appleton,  Wis. 
Price,  S.  Eber,  Rev. 

1903  Pastor  Tabernacle  Baptist  Church,  1717  Wells  St.,  Milwaukee,  Wig. 

Sage,  A.  H. 

1904  Teacher  State  Normal  School,  130  Elm  St.,  Oshkosh,  Wis. 

Saliseury,  Albert,  Ph.D. 

1903  President  State  Normal  School,  Whitewater,  Wis. 

Sawyer,  Mrs.  Edgar  P.  t 

1904  785  Algoma  St.,  Oshkosh,  Wis. 

Sawyer,  Hermon  L. 

1903        Green  Bay,  Wis. 
Sears,  Charles  H.,  Ph.D. 

1903        Teacher  State  Normal  School,  Milwaukee,  Wis. 

Sevf.rence,  Lemuel,  Rev. 

1003        Pastor  Baptist  Church,  Spring  Prairie,  Wis. 

Shanks,  L.  E.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Markesan,  Wis. 

Short,  Wm.  Harvey,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1903        Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  Bloomer,  Wis. 


6i6  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

WISCONSIN— Continued 
Spkowls,  Thomas  W.,  Rev.,  S.T.D. 

1903         Pastor  Methodist  Episcopal.  Church,  DePere,  Wis. 

Stevens,  Fr.-^nk  V.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Whitewater,  Wis. 

Swart,  Rose  C. 

1004        Supervisor  of  Practice,  State  Normal  School,  37  Elm  St.,  Oshkosh,  Wis. 
TiTSWORTH,  JUDSON,  ReV.,  D.D. 

1903        Pastor  Plymouth  Congregational  Church,  291  Ogden  Ave.,  Milwiukee.  Wis. 

TvRELLS,  Mrs.  S.  J.  T.,  M.D. 

1003        Temperance  Work  among  Children,  Fox  Lake,  Wis. 
Vaughan,  Richard  M.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  First  Baptist  Church,  Janesville,  Wis. 

Vaughn,  Howard  R.,  Rev. 

1903  Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Elk  Mound,  Wis. 

Wilson,  Alfred  G.,  Rev. 

1904  Pastor  First  Congregational  Church,  4  North   Oneida   St.,  Rhinelander,  Wis. 

Woods,  Erville  B. 

1903  932  Villa  St.,  Racine,  Wis. 

WYOMING 
Williams,  Theodore  Charles,  Rev. 

1904  Pastor  Congregational  Church,  Sheridan,  Wyo. 

ASIA 

Allen,  Annie  Teresa,  A.B. 

1903         Mis.^ionary,  A.   B.  C.   F.   M.,  Teacher  American  School  for  Girls,  Bronsa, 
Turkey  in  Asia 

BRITISH  AMERICA 
ALBERTA 
HuESTis.  Charles  H.,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1903         Pastor  Methodist  Church,  College  Ave.,  Edmonton,  Albena,  N.  W.  T. 

MacRae,  .\.  O.,  Rev.,  Ph.D. 

1903         Pastor  Presbyteiian  Church,  Calgary,  Alberta,  N.  W.  T. 

MANITOBA 
Bowman,  J.  A.,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1903        Pastor  St.  Paul's  Presbyterian  Church,  Maple  St.,  Hartney,  Man. 

Dingle,  George  S. 

J 903         Superintendent  St.  Stephen's  Presbyterian  Sunday  School,  330  EUice  Ave. 
Winnipeg,  Man. 

Gordon,  Charles  W.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  St.  Stephen's  Presbyterian  Church,  567  Broadway,  Winnipeg,  Man. 
Hart,  Walter  T. 

1903         General    Secretary    Young   Men's   Christian   Association,  Portage    Ave.   and 
Smith  St.,  Winnipeg,  Man. 

McDiARMID,  A.  P. 

1903         Principal  Brandon  College,  Brandon,  Man. 

Whidden,  Howard  P. 

1903         Professor  Brandon  College,  Brandon,  Man. 

NEW  BRUNSWICK 
Lucas,  Aquila,  Rev. 

1003         Field  Secretary  New  Brunswick  Sunday  School  Association    Sussex.  N.  B. 

Ross,  William  A.,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1903         Presbyterian  Clergym.^n,  Humphrey's  Mills,  Moncton,  N.  B. 


THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION  617 

NOVA  SCOTIA 

DeWolfe,  Henry  T.,  Rev. 

1903        Principal  Acadia  Seminary,  Wolfville,  N.  S. 

Falconer,  Robert  A.,  I.itt.D.,  LL.D. 

1003         Professor  Presbyteriaa  College,  Halifax,  N.  S. 

Green,  Adam  S.,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1903        Pastor  Zion  Baptist  Church,  Triu-o,  N.  S. 
MacKay,  a.  H.,  LL.D.,  F.R.S.C. 

1903  Superintendent  Education  for  Province  of  Nova  Scotia,  Halifax,  N.  S. 

Marshall,  Eraser  G. 

1904  Maritime  Secretary  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  New  Gla.sgow.  N.  S. 

Murray,  Walter  C,  A.M. 

1903        Professor  Dalhousie  University,  Halifax,  N.  S. 
Smith,  William  H..,  Rev.,  Ph.D.. 

1903         Pastor  Presbyterian  Church,  Falmouth  St.  Manse,  Sydney,  N.  S. 

ONTARIO 
Bates,  Stuart  S.,  Rev.,  D.D.  * 

1903  Field  Secretary  Baptist  Sabbath  Schools  in  Toronto,  358  Markham  St.,  Toronto, 
Ont. 

Cameron,  C.  J.,  Rev.  * 

1904  Field  Secretary  of  Education,  McMaster  University,  Toronto,  Ont. 

Clarke,  W.  J.,  Rev. 

1904         Clergyman,  307  Wolf  St.,  London,  Ont. 

Cross,  George,  A.M.,  Ph.D. 

1903  Professor  McMaster  University,  Toronto,  Ont. 

Duncan,  J.  M.,  Rev. 

1904  As.soc.  Editor  Presbyterian  Sunday  School  Publications,  Confederation  Life 
Bldg.,  Toronto,  Ont. 

Eby,  C.  S.,  Rev.,  D.D. 

1904        Pa.stor  Methodist  Church,  Bracebridge,  Ont. 
Fasken,  George  R.,  Rev. 

1904        Pastor  St.  Paul's  Presbyterian  Church,  60  Howland  .Ave.,  Toronto,  Ont. 

Fraser,  R.  Douglas,  Rev. 

1904        Editor  and  Business  Manager  Sunday  School  Publications  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Canada,  Toronto,  Ont. 

Harrison,  Fosdick  B.,  Rev. 

1903        Pastor  Second  Congregational  Church,  Brantford,  Ont. 

Hughes,  J.  L. 

1903        Inspector  of  Schools,  Toronto,  Ont. 
Jordan,  W.  G.,  D.D. 

1903  Professor  Queen's  Universi'y,  249  Brock  St.,  Kingston,  Ont. 

Laidlaw,  Robert  S.,  Rev. 

1904  69  Perry  St.,  Woodstock,  Ont. 

M.ACKAY,  Edward  W.,  Rev. 

1904        St.  Peter's  Manse,  Madoc,  Ont. 
McDougall,  W.  C. 

1904        Acting  Principal,  College  of  Disciples,  St.  Thomas,  Ont. 
McFadyen,  John  Edgar,  A.M.  * 

1903  Professor  Knox  College,  Toronto,  Ont. 

Merrill,  Bert  Ward,  Rev. 

1904  Pastor  McPhail  Memorial  Baptist  Church,  353  Maclaren  St.,  Ottawa,  Ont. 
Moore,  S.  J. 

1903        Toronto,  Ont. 

NiE,  Randolph  F.,  Rev. 

190  J        Clergyman,  Church  of  England,  Homer,  Ont. 
QuFHL,  Jacob 

1903  Bible-Clas.s  Teacher,  Tavistock,  Ont. 

Sinclair,  N.  R.  D.,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1904  Pastor  Presbyterian  Church,  Little  Current,  Ont. 


6i8  THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 

ONTARIO— Continued 

SOMEEVILLE,  J.  FOKREST 

1903        Pastor  Presbyterian  Church,  332  Ontario  St.,  Toronto,  Ont. 
Sunderland,  J.  T.,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1903  Pastor  First  Unitarian  Church,  650  Ontario  St.,  Toronto,  Ont. 

Thompson,  John  C. 

1904  Theological  Student,  Kno.x  College,  Toronto,  Ont. 

Tracy,  Frederick,  Ph.D.  * 

1904         Lecturer  Toronto  University,  74  Wilcox  St.,  Toronto,  Ont. 

Unsworth,  Joseph  K.,  Rev.  * 

1904         Pastor  Congregational  Church,  169  Jackson  W.,  Hamilton,  Ont. 

WiCHEK,  Edward  Arthur,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1904         149  Rusholmc  Road,  Toronto,  Ont. 

TRINCE  EDW.\RD  ISLAND 
Archibald,  Adam  D.,  Rev. 

1903  Fielfl  Secretary  Prince  Edward  Island  Sunday  School  Association,  Summer- 
side,  P.  E.  Island 

QUEBEC 
Creelman,  Harlan,  Ph.D. 

1903  Professor  Congregational  College  of  Canada,  The  Marlborough,  Montreal 
Quebec 

Day,  FR.A.NK  J.,  Rev. 

1003         Pastor  Plymouth  Congregational  Church,  Sherbrooke,  Qtiebec 

Hill,  Edv.'ard  Munson,  D.D. 

1903  Principal  Congregational  College  of  Canada,  58  McTavish  St.,  Montreal. 
Quebec 

Watson,  W.  H.,  Rev. 

1903         Pastor  Emmanuel  Congregational  Church,  Cowansville,  Quebec 

BRITISH  WEST  INDIES 
Coffin,  F.  J.,  A.M.,  Ph.D. 

1903         President  Pre!:byterian  Theological  Seminary,  San  Fernando,  B.  W.  I. 

Beaton,  D.  T. 

1903        Collector  General's  Office,  Kingston,  Jamaica,  B.  W.  I. 

EUROPE 

ENGLAND 
Archibald,  George  H. 

1903  Extension  Lecturer  Hartford  School  of  Religious  Pedagogy,  Hartford,  Conn.; 
London  Sunday  School  Union  Teachers'  Training  College,  56  Old  Bailey 
London,  E.  C,  England 

Bonner,  Carey,  Rev. 

1903  General  Secretan,'  of  the  The  Sunday  School  Union,  56  Old  Bailey,  London 
E.  C,  England 

Griffiths,  Hugh  S. 

1903  Special  Missioner,  South  Wales  Congregational  Chtirch,  9  Grove  Place,  Pcn- 
arth,  England 

FRANCE 
Duttov,  Horace,  Rev. 

1904  64  Rue  Madame,  Paris,  France 

GERMANY 
SissoN,  Edward  O.,  B.S. 

IQ03         28  Goltz  Strasse,  Berlin,  W.  Germany 


THE  MEMBERS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION  619 

TURKEY 
Gates,  Caleb  Frank,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

1904        President  Roberts  College,  via  British  Post,  Constantinople,  Turkey 

Lee,  L.  O.,  Rev.,  D.D, 

1903        Professor  Marash  Theological  Seminary,  Marash  (open  mail  via  London,  care 
of  Mouses  Ashjian,  Alcxandretta) ,  Turkey 

INDIA 

BoGGS,  S.  A.  D. 

1903        Missionary  of  American  Baptist  Missionary  Union,  Assam,  India 

Levering,  Frank  H.,  B.S.,  LL.D. 

1903  39  Oxford  St.,  Secunderabad,  Deccan,  India 

JAPAN 

Chappell,  Benjamin,  Rev.,  A.M. 

1904  Dean  Ayama  Gakvin,  College  and  Academy  of  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
Tokyo,  Japan 

GuLicK,  Sidney  L.,  Rev. 

1904        Matsuzama,  Japan 

Latham,  H.  L.,  A.M.,  S.T.M. 

1903  Teacher  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Mission  in  Japan,  Tsu,  Ise,  Japan 

SOUTH  AFRICA 

institutions 
Chimanimani  School 

1904  Principal,  Miss  H.  J.  Gilson,  Mclsetter,  Rhodesia,  South  Africa 


INDEXES 


INDEX  OF  MEMBERS 


A 

Abbott,  Ernest  H 590 

Abbott,  Lvman 590 

Abbott,  Walter  B 572 

Abel,  Clarence 558 

Abercrombie,  D.  W 574 

Ackerman,  Arthur  W 553 

Adams,  Edwin  Augustus. .  .  558 

Adams,  Frederick  C 608 

Adams,  John  Coleman 553 

Adams,  John  Quincy 590 

Alderman,  Edwin  A 613 

Alderson,  Victor  C 553 

Alexander,  A.  0 581 

Allen,  Ajmie  Teresa 616 

Allen,  Ernest  Boumer 599 

Allen,  L.  L 585 

Allen,  Mrs.  Anna  Beck 558 

Ailing,  Joseph  T 590 

Allison,  Wmiam  Henry 551 

AUworth,  John ss8 

American  Institute  of  Sacred 

Literature 568 

Ames,  Edward  Scribner. . . .  558 

Amos,  Henry  Cooper 557 

Anders,  Howard  S 603 

Anderson,  James  H 558 

Anderson,  L.  F 613 

Anderson,  Thomas  D 590 

Anderson,  William  F sqo 

Andrews,  EUen 574 

Angell,  James  B 581 

Anthony,  Alfred  W 572 

Anthony,  Mary  B 574 

Antrim,  Clarence  D 603 

Antrim,  Eugene  M 574 

Archibald,  Adam  D 618 

Archibald,  George  H 618 

Armstrong,  Cecil  J 572 

Armstrong,  E.  P S90 

Armstrong,  Lynn  P 590 

Ashworth,  Robert  A 553 

Atkinson,  P.  C 558 

Atlanta  Theological  Sem. .  .557 

Atterbury ,  Anson  P 590 

Atwood,  Isaac  M 590 

Axtell,  Archie  G 587 

Ayers,  Daniel  HoUister 590 

Ayres,  Sabra  Grant 590 

B 

Bacon,  Benjamin  W 553 

Bacon,  Theodore  D 581 

Bade,  William  F 551 

Bagnall,  Powhatan 590 

Bailey,  Albert  E 574 

Bailey,  Edward  P 558 

Bailey,  Henry  Turner 574 

Bailey,  Josiah  W 598 

Baird,  Lucius  0 558 

Baird,  W.  T 585 

Baker,  Smith 590 

Baker  University 571 

Baldwin,  Cjtus  G 551 

Baldwin,  Edward  Colfax. . .  590 

Baldwin,  Jesse  A 558 

Baldwin,  J.  Mark 573 

Baldwin,  Josephine  L 588 

Baldwin,  William  A 574 

Ball,  Elizabeth  M 590 

BaDantine,  William  G 574 

Bard,  S.  M 604 


Barker,  Henry 590 

Barker,  Herbert  A 574 

Barnes,  Clifford  W 558 

Barnes,  Lemuel  C 574 

Barnes,  Mrs.  J.Woodbridge  588 

Barnes,  Stephen  G 612 

Barr,  Alfred  H 581 

Barry,  Corinna 574 

Bartholomew,  Allen  R 604 

Bartlett,  Adolphus  C 558 

Bartlett,  George  Griffiths. ..  604 

Bartlett,  J.  Henry 604 

Bartlett,  Walter  1 570 

Barto,  Charles  E 590 

Barton,  Frank  M 599 

Barton,  George  A 604 

Barton,  William  E 558 

Bartz,  Ulvsses  S 604 

Bashford,  J.  W 599 

Bassett,  Austin  B S74 

Bates,  E.J 553 

Bates,  George  E 585 

Bates,  Henry  L 603 

Bates,  Stuart  S 617 

Bates,  Walter  C 574 

Bateson,  Frederick  W 558 

Batt,  William  J 574 

Batten,  L.  W 591 

Batten,  Samuel  Zane 587 

Bawden,  Henry  H 599 

Bayles,  J.  W 571 

Baylor  University 612 

Beach,  Arthur  G 581 

Beachler,  WilHam  H 599 

Beale,  Charles  H 614 

Beale,  George  Livingstone.  .610 

Beard,  Frederica 558 

Beard,  Gerald  H 612 

Beard,  Harington 583 

Beardslee,  John  W 581 

Beatley,Mrs.  C.  Bancroft... 574 

Beaton,  David 558 

Beck,  Lafayette  D 558 

Beebe,  frank cjy^ 

Beesley,  B.  W 604 

Belfield,  Henry  H 558 

Bell,  HiUM 570 

Bell,  W.  S 587 

Belmont    College    for    Young 

Ladies 611 

Belsan,  Edward 613 

Bement,  Howard 581 

Benjamin,  Chase 591 

Bentall,E.  G $58 

Benton,  Horace 599 

Bergen,  Abram  G 558 

Berkowitz,  Henry 604 

Bernard,  Taylor 585 

Berry,  George  R 591 

Berry,  Louis  F 553 

Best,  Nolan  R 558 

Bestor,  O.  P 614 

Betteridge,  Walter  R 591 

Belts,  F.  W 591 

Bewer,  Julius  A 591 

Biddle,  Elizabeth  N 604 

Bingham,  G.  W 587 

Binney,  John 553 

Birnie,  Douglas  Putnam 501 

Bishop,  C.  M 585 

Bishop,  Frank  D 604 

BLshop,  J.  Remsen S99 

623 


Bishop,  Mrs.  L.  J.  P 591 

Bissell,  Flint  M 574 

Bitting,  WilUam  C 591 

Bixby,  James  T 574 

Blackall,  C.  R 604 

Blackall,  Mrs.  C.  R 604 

Blair,  John  A 558 

Blaisdcll,  James  A 614 

Blake,  Henry  A 587 

Blakeslee,  Erastus 574 

Blanchard,  Henry 574 

Blankenburg,  Mrs.  R 604 

Blatchford,  Eliphalet  W. ...  558 

Blatt,  James  N 604 

Bliss,  Alfred  V 591 

Bhss,  Frederick  Leroy 581 

Blunt,  Harry 568 

Boggs,  S.  A.  D 619 

Bolt,  WilKam  W 585 

Bolte,  Charles 591 

Bomberger,  Henry  A 604 

Bond,  Elizabeth  Powell. . .  .604 

Bonner,  Carey 618 

Boocock,  WilUam  H 588 

Boone,  Richard  G 599 

Borden,  Anna  H 574 

Boston   University,  School  of 

Theology 581 

Bosworth,  Edward  1 599 

Boville,  R.  G 591 

Bowerman,  George  F 557 

Bowers,  Roy  E 599 

Bowles,  George  C 581 

Bowman,  J.  A 616 

Bowne,  Borden  P 574 

Boyd,  Thomas 551 

Boynton,  George  M 574 

Boynton,  Nehemiah 581 

Boynton,  Richard  W 583 

Bradford,  Amory  H 588 

Bradford,  Emery  L 574 

Bradley,  Daniel  F 570 

Bradner,  Lester,  Jr 608 

Bradshaw,  A.  H 604 

Bradshaw,  J.  W 599 

Bragdon,  C.  C 574 

Braisted,  William  E 587 

Braithwaite,  E.  Ernest 575 

Branch,  Ernest  William 575 

Brand,  Charles  A 575 

Breed,  Reuben  L 614 

Brett,  Mrs.  Arthur  W 570 

Brett,  Cornelius 588 

Brett,  William  H 599 

Brewer,  John  Marks 551 

Breyfogle,  Caroline  M 575 

Bridgman,  Howard  A 575 

Briggs,  Arthur  H 551 

Briggs,  George  A spi 

Briggs,  Herbert  F 551 

Briggs,  Howard  A.  M 588 

Briggs,  James  Franklin 572 

Brinstad,  Charles  William. .  587 

Brodfuhrer,  J.  C 558 

Bronson,  Solon  C 558 

Brooks,  John  L 591 

Brosnahan,  Timothy 573 

Brouse,  Olin  R 559 

Brown,  Arthur  P 551 

Brown,  Charles  R 552 

Brovni,  Daniel  M 559 

Brown,  Elmer  E 552 


624 


THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION    ASSOCIATION 


Brown,  Francis 591 

Brown,  George  P 559 

Brown,  Herman  E 604 

Brown,  James  A 559 

Brown,  J.  W.  H 584 

Brown,  Marianna  C 591 

Brown,  Walter  S 551 

Brown,  William  Adams 591 

Brumbaugh,  Martin  G 604 

Brush,  Alfred  H 591 

Bryan,  William  L 568 

Bryant,  Stowell  L 559 

Buchheit,  John  F 604 

Buchtel  College 603 

Buckham,  John  W 552 

Budd,  George  S 599 

Buell,  L.  E s8i 

Bullard,  Henry  N 585 

Bullock,  Motier  A 587 

Bumstead,  Arthur 575 

Burgess,  Isaac  B 559 

Burlingame,  George  E 559 

Burnham,  Frederick  W.  .  .  .559 

Burnham,  S.  H 587 

Burnham,  Sylvester 591 

Burnham,  Waterman  R 553 

Burns,  Allen  Tibbals 591 

Burnworth,  E.  Davis 599 

Burr,  Everett  D 575 

Burrell,  Joseph  Dunn 591 

Burt,  Enoch  Hale 553 

Burt,  Frank  H 559 

Burton,  Ernest  DeWitt 559 

Burtt,  Benjamin  H 581 

Burwell,  A.  S 613 

Burwell,  E.  B 613 

Bushee,  George  A 554 

Bushnell,  Albert 585 

Bushnell,  Samuel  C 575 

Butler,  Frank  E S7S 

Butler,  John  Harding 559 

Butler,  Nathaniel 559 

Butler,  Nicholas  Murray. . .  591 

Butterfield,  Kenyon  L 608 

Butterwick,  Robert  Reuben.604 

Buttrick,  Wallace 591 

Buxton,  Wilson  R 608 

Byrnes,  John  H 559 

C 

Cabot,  Mary  F 612 

Cadbury,  Emma,  Jr 604 

Cadman,  S.  Parkes 591 

Cady,  George  L 570 

Cady,  J.  Cleveland 591 

Calhoun,  Newell  M 554 

Calley,  Walter 559 

Cameron,  C.  J 617 

Camp,  George  R 604 

Campbell,  James  M 559 

Campbell,  Stuart  M 559 

Canfield,  James  H 591 

Cantwell,  J.  S 559 

Capen,  Samuel  B S75 

Carlisle,  James  H 609 

Carman,  Augustine  S 599 

Carman,  George  Noble 557 

Carpenter,  George  C 568 

Carpenter,  J.  B.,  Jr sgi 

Carr,  John  W 568 

Carre,  Henry  Beach 610 

Carrier,  Augustus  S 559 

Carroll,  William  W 591 

Carruth,  William  H 571 

Carter,  Charles  F 575 

Carter,  Ferdinand  E 581 

Carter,  John 604 

Carter,  John  F 575 

Carter,  Mrs.  H.  H 575 

Carter,  Richard  B 575 

Carter,  Thomas 610 

Carus,  Paul 559 


Case,  Carl  D 592 

Case,  William  Warren 559 

Cassady,  Mrs.  Ernest  R.. .  .604 
Centenary  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Sunday  School 568 

Cessna,  Orange  H 570 

Chalfant,  Harry  Malcolm... 604 

Chalmers,  Andrew  B 575 

Chalmers,  James 559 

Chamberlain,  Orlando  E. .  .559 

Chamberlin,  George  D 575 

Chamberlin,  Georgia  L. . .  .559 

Chandler,  Edward  H 575 

Chapin,  Robert  C 614 

Chapin,  W.  H. 588 

Chapman,  Edward  M 612 

Chapman,  William  H 592 

Chappell,  Benjamin 619 

Chase,  Wayland  J 559 

Chase,  Wm.  Sheefe 592 

Cheney,  B.  Royal 614 

Cheney,  James  Loring 599 

Chenoweth,  A.  E 608 

Chicago  Theological  Sem . . .  568 

Chimanimani  School 619 

Church.  A.  B 599 

Clark,  Davis  W 599 

Clark,  D.  B 604 

Clark,  Henry  F 581 

Clark,  Mrs.  Maud  G 559 

Clarke,  Almon  T S . .  Si 

Clarke,  James  E 610 

Clarke,  Lillian  Freeman.. . .  575 

Clarke,  W.J 617 

Clemenson,  Nevrton  E 612 

Clifford,  EHzabeth 599 

Cobern,  Camden  M 559 

Cochrane,  J.  E 572 

Coe,  George  Albert 560 

Coe,  Mrs.  George  A 560 

Coffin,  F.J 618 

Coffin,  W.  K 614 

Coffman,  Wilmer  E 604 

Cole,  Arthur  S 588 

Coleman,  Christopher  B. . . .  568 

Coler,  George  P 582 

Colgate  University 598 

Colledge,  WiUiam  A 560 

Collin,  Henry  P 582 

Collins,  Hannah 592 

Colt,  Luman  C 554 

Columbia  University 598 

Conant,  Osmyn  P 592 

Conant,  Thomas 592 

Congregational  Sunday  Sch. 
Superintendents'  Union  of 

Boston  and  Vicinity 581 

Conklin,  John  W 592 

Conolly,  Charles  Parker..  .  .571 

Conver.se,  C.  Crozat 588 

Cook,  John  W 592 

Cook,  John  W 560 

Cook,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  B 560 

Cooke,  Ralph  W 560 

Cooper,  Frank  B 613 

Cooper,  J.  W 592 

Cope,  Henry  F 560 

Copeland,  Foster 599 

Cornell  College 571 

Coulter,  John  Merle 560 

Cowdery,  Kirke  L 599 

Cox,  Sydney  Herbert 592 

Craig,  Arthur  W 557 

Cramer,  W.  Stewart 604 

Crandall,  Lathan  A 583 

Crawford,  J.  Forsyth 614 

Cree,  Harvard  T 557 

Creelman,  Harlan 618 

Creighton,  John 587 

Cross,  George 617 

Grosser,  John  R 560 

Crouch,  Horace  Eugene. . .  .605 


Crouse,  Mrs.  J.  N 560 

Crowl,  Theodore 560 

Gulp,  W.  T.  Sherman 600 

Culton,  Anna 560 

Cummings,  Edward 575 

Cummings,  Mrs.  W.  H 554 

Cuninggim,  Jesse  Lee 610 

Currier,  Albert  H 600 

Ciu-tis,  Edward  H s6o 

Curtis,  Edward  L 554 

Curtiss,  Samuel  Ives 560 

Cutten,  George  B 592 

D 

Dabney,  Charles  W 610 

Dale,  Mrs.  Eben 575 

Dame,  Nelson  Page 592 

Dana,  S.  H 587 

Dana,  Stephen  W 605 

Danforth,  Nathan  B 556 

Daniels,  Eva  J 582 

Danner,  William  Mason.. . .  55  j 

Darby,  W.J 568 

Darby,  WilUam  Lambert. .  .585 

Dark,  Charles  L 560 

Dascomb,  H.  N 582 

Davies,  Arthiu-  E 600 

Davies,  R.  R 612 

Davis,  Albert  P 575 

Davis,  Boothe  C 592 

Davis,  Gilbert  G 575 

Davis,  William  H 554 

Davis,  William  V.  W 575 

Davis,  WilUam  W 614 

Davison,  J.  0 610 

Dawson,  George  E 554 

Day,  Charles  O 575 

Day,  Dwight  H 605 

Day,  Ernest  E 570 

Day,  Frank  J 618 

Day,  Thomas  F 552 

Day,  William  Edmund 600 

Day,  William  Horace 552 

Deahl,J.  N 614 

Dean,  LasCasas  L 560 

Deane,  John  Pitt 615 

Dee,  Ellen  Post 612 

DeForest,  Heman  P 582 

DeGarmo,  Mrs.  E.  A 572 

Delk,  Edwin  Heyl 605 

Denio,  Francis  B 572 

Dennen,  Ernest  J 609 

Dennett,  Edward  Power — 552 

Dennis,  Mrs.  Laban 588 

Devitt,  Theophilus  S 554 

Dewey,  John 592 

Dewhurst,  Frederic  E 560 

DeWolfe,  Henry  T 617 

Dexter,  Stephen  B 560 

Dibell,  Edwin 600 

Dickens,  J.  L 572 

Dickerson,  J.  Spencer 560 

Dickert,  Thomas  W 605 

Dickey,  Alfred  E 599 

Dickey,  Samuel 560 

Dickinson  College 608 

Dietrich,  C.  W 592 

Dike,  Samuel  W 57S 

Diman,  John  B 609 

Dimm,  Jonathan  R 60s 

Dingle,  George  S 616 

Dingwell,  James 575 

Dingwell,  James  D 575 

Dixon,  Joseph  L 576 

Doane,  William  Howard. .  .600 
Dodd,  Charles  Hastings. ...  588 

Dodds,  Robert 560 

Dodge,  D.  Stuart 592 

Dodge,  Grace  H 592 

Dodge,  Richard  Despard. .  .592 

Doggett  L.  L 576 

Donald,  E.  Winchester 576 


INDEX  OF  MEMBERS 


625 


Donaldson,  George 588 

Dorchester,  Daniel,  Jr 60s 

Dougherty,  Newton  C s6o 

Douglas,  Walter  C 605 

Dovving,  G.  Fay 609 

Driver,  John  M 560 

Drown,  T.  M 60s 

DuBois,  Patterson 60s 

Dumm,  B.  Alfred syb 

Duncan,  J.  M 617 

Duncan,  W.  A 592 

Dundon,  Clarence  E 600 

Dunlop,  J.  D S8s 

Dunning,  Albert  E 576 

Durham,  Plato  T soS 

Dutton,  Horace 618 

Dutton,  Samuel  T 592 

E 

Earlham  College 569 

Eastman,  W.  D 560 

Eaton,  Edward  D 615 

Eby,  C.  S. 617 

Eby,  Frederick 611 

Eckels,  James  Herron 560 

Edmunds,  E.  B 615 

Edmunds,  James 603 

Eggleston,  Julius  Wooster. .  SS3 

Ehler,  George  VV s^o 

Eiselen,  Frederick  C 560 

EHot,  Samuel  A 576 

Elkinton,  Joseph 60S 

Ellicott,  Elizabeth  K S73 

Elliott,  A.  J 592 

Elliott,  Ashley  J s6o 

Elliott,  George 582 

Ellis,  William  T 60s 

Elmer,  Franklin  D 554 

Emerson,  Charles  F s87 

Emery,  C.  M 59S 

Empey,  F.  D 570 

Endicott,  Eugene  F 576 

Ensign,  Frederick  G 561 

Episcopal  Theo.  School ....  581 

Evans,  Daniel 576 

Evans,  Mary 600 

Evans,  Milton  G 60s 

Evans,  Thomas  St.  Clair. .  .605 
Evanston  Free  Public  Lib. .  .  s68 

Ewing,  Homer  H 605 

Ewing,  William 582 

Eyles,  William  J 561 

F 

Fagnani,  Charles  P 592 

Fairbanks,  Arthur 570 

Fairchild,  Edwin  M S92 

Fairman,  Jane S6i 

Falconer,  Robert  A 617 

Farnham,  Mary  F 603 

Farnsworth,  Charles  H S92 

Farr,  Morton  A 568 

Faskcn,  (icorge  R 617 

Faucon,  Catherine  W S76 

Faunce,  William  H.  P 609 

Faville,  John 561 

Fennell,  W.  G 588 

Ferguson,  William  D 561 

Fergusson,  E.  Morris 588 

Ferrin,  Allan  C 612 

Ferris,  Frank  A 592 

Ferris,  H.  J 615 

Field,  Marshall 561 

Fieldcn,  Joseph  F S76 

Fitield,J.  W 58s 

Finster,  Clarence 582 

First   Baptist   Bible  School, 

Dillon,  Mont 587 

First  Baptist  Sunday  School, 

Winsted,  Conn 556 

First   Presbyterian  Church, 

East  on ,  Pa 608 


Fischer,  William  J 582 

Fisher,  Charles  R SS^ 

Fisher,  Mrs.  Angie  B S76 

Fletcher,  William  I S76 

Flett,  George  C 561 

F^lint,  George  H 576 

Foote,  Arthur S76 

Foote,  Henry  W S72 

Forbes,  George  M S92 

Forbes,  John  F 592 

Forbush,  William  B 576 

Ford,  J.  S s6i 

Forward,  DeWitt  Daniel .  .  .  553 

Foster,  Edward  D 582 

Foster,  George  B 561 

PVster,  Mrs.  J.  Ellen SS7 

Foster,  R.  V 610 

r<"oster,  Mrs.  William  W.,  Jr.sSs 
Fowler,  Arthur  Thomas. . .  .  5&3 

Fowler,  Bertha 60s 

Fowler,  Henry  Thatcher. .  .609 

Fox .  Norman sg2 

Frame,  James  E 593 

Francis,  Arthur  J 561 

Francis,  Lewis S93 

Frantz,  Edward S7i 

Eraser,  John  G 600 

Eraser,  R.  Douglas 617 

Freeman,  Henry  V s6i 

French,  H.  Delmar 593 

French,  Henry  H 576 

French,  Howard  D 561 

Friborg,  Emil SS4 

Friend,  W.  A 570 

Fritter,  Enoch  A 561 

Frizzell,  John  W 615 

Frost,  Edward  W 615 

Frost,  Henry  Hoag s6i 

Frost,  Robert  D S72 

Frost,  William  Goodell 572 

Fuller,  Arthur  A 609 

Fuller   Willard S99 

FuUerton,  Kemper 600 

Fulton,  Albert  C 572 

Fulton,  Robert  B 585 

G 

Galbreath,  Mrs.  William  F.561 

Gammon,  Robert  W 553 

Gannett,  William  ChanningSQ3 

Garber,  L.  Leedy 600. 

Garfield,  John  P 554 

Garrett,  Alfred  Cope 60s 

Garrett,  Edmund  F s88 

Garrison,  James  H s8s 

Garrison,  Winfred  Ernest.  .569 

Gates,  Caleb  Frank 619 

Gates,  Carl  Martel 573 

Gates,  Herbert  Wright s6i 

Gates,  Owen  H 576 

Gelert;  Johannes  S 593 

Gelston,  Jo.seph  Mills S82 

General    'Fheological    Semi- 
nary  Library 598 

Genung,  John  F 576 

George,  Joseph  Henry s6i 

German,  Frank  F 593 

Gerrie,  A.  W SS4 

Gibson,  H.  W S76 

GifTord,  O.  P S93 

Gilbert,  George  H 576 

Gilbert,  Levi 600 

Gilbert,  Newell  D 561 

Gilbert,  Simeon s6i 

Gilchrist,  Neil  A 583 

Gilliland,  James  H s^i 

Gilpatrick,  Howard S99 

Gobin,  Hillary  A 569 

Goldner,  J.  H 600 

Goodman,  Fred  S 593 

Goodrich,  Chauncey  W. . .  .600 
Goodrich,  Frederic  S S82 


Goodrich,  Lincoln  B 576 

Goo<lson,  C.  Polk s8s 

Goodyear,  De  Mont S76 

Gordon,  Charles  W 616 

Goucher,  John  F S73 

Gouldy,  Jennie  A 593 

Gove,  Aaron SS3 

Gow,  George  C S93 

Graham,  John  J.  G 561 

Graif,  Philip 587 

Grammcr,  Carl  E 613 

Grant,  John  Hiram 554 

Grant,  S.  Edwin S93 

Gray,  Clifton  D 582 

Green,  Adam  S 617 

Greene,  Benjamin  A s6i 

Greene,  Frederick  W SS4 

Greene,  Samuel 613 

Greenland,  W.  A 600 

Greenman,  A.  V S^i 

Gregg,  David S93 

Gregg,  James  Edgar S76 

Greul,  Frederick  B 576 

Grics,  Moses  J 600 

Griffis,  William   ICIliot S93 

Griffith,  Mrs.  Jennie  S s6i 

Griffiths,  Hugh  S 618 

Griggs,  A.  R 611 

Grinstead,  Wren  J 572 

Grossman,  Louis 600 

Gulick,  Edward  L s88 

Gulick,  Luther  H 593 

Gulick,  Sidney  L 619 

Gunsaulus,  Frank  W s6i 

Gurley,  Mrs.  Sears  E S93 

Guss,  Roland  W 576 

H 

Hadden,  Archibald 582 

Haggard,  Alfred  M 570 

Haigh,  Klary  V 60s 

Haines,  Amos  H 60s 

Haines,  Matthias  L S69 

Hale,  lidward  E S76 

Hale,  George  H 576 

Haley,  Jesse  J 613 

Hall,  Charles  Cuthbert S93 

Hall ,  Colby  Dixon 593 

Hall,  G.  Stanley 577 

Hall,  Newton  M S77 

Hall,  Thomas  C S93 

Hall,  William  H SS4 

Hallock,  Leavitt  H 583 

Halsey,  Rufus  Henry 615 

Hammel,  John  D 587 

Hammond,  Frank  E 582 

Hammond,  J.  D 610 

Hampton,  W.  J 572 

Hanley,  Elijah  A 600 

Hannum,  Henry  Oliver.  .  .  .615 

Hansel,  John  W s6i 

Hanson,  A.  W 569 

Harding,  J.  H 600 

Hardinge,  Margaret s6i 

Hardy,  Edwin  Noah 577 

Have,  Williaw  Hobart 609 

Harker,  Joseph  R s6i 

Harlan,  Richard  1) S62 

Harper,  Edward  T $62 

Harper,  William  R 562 

Harrington,  C.  N S62 

Harrington,  Karl  Pomeroy..S73 

Harris.  George S77 

Harri.son,  Fo.sdick  B 617 

narrower,  Pascal S93 

Harsha,  J.  W 600 

Hart,  Walter  T 616 

Harte,  A.  C 551 

Hartford  Theological  Semi- 
nary  5s6 

Hartshorn,  W.  N 577 

Hartwell,  H.  Linwood 562 


626 


THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 


Hartzell,  Morton  C 562 

Harvard  College  Library. .  .  581 
Harvard  University  Divinity 

School 581 

Hasham,  J.  Henry 60s 

Haslett,  Samuel  B 577 

Hassold,  F.  A 582 

Hatch,  William  H 562 

Hatfield,  Albert  D 600 

Hathaway,  Edvifard  S 577 

Haven,  WiUiam  Ingraham..  593 
Haviland,  Walter  Winship..6o5 

Hawkins,  L.  E 588 

Hawley,  Fred  V 562 

Hay,  Robert  1 605 

Haydn,  Howell  Merriman.  .600 
Hayes,  Benjamin  Francis..  .573 

Hayes,  Doremus  A 562 

Hayes,  Francis  L 571 

Hays,  William  B 551 

Hazard,  Caroline 577 

Hazard,  M.  C 577 

Hazen,  Austin 554 

Hazen,  Azel  W 554 

Hearne,  Edward  Warren.  .  .  587 

Heath,  Daniel  C 577 

Heebner,  Flora  Krauss 605 

Heermance,  Edgar  L 583 

Hegeler,  Edward  C 562 

Heinz,  H.  J 60s 

Henderson,  Charles  R 562 

Henderson,  Herman  C 615 

Hendri.x  College 5s i 

Henry,  Carl  F 600 

Henry,  James  R 610 

Henshaw,  Gordon  E S93 

Hepburn,  W.  M s88 

rierrick,  Henry  M S62 

Herrick,  Jullien  A 582 

Hervey,  Walter  L S93 

Heuver,  G.  D 562 

Hiatt,  Caspar  W 600 

Hickman,  WilHam  H 593 

Hicks,  Joseph  Emerson. .  .  .613 

Hicks,  W.  C s8s 

Hicks,  William  Cleveland..  .593 

Hieronynius,  Robert  E 562 

Higgons,  John  Axford 588 

Hildreth,  Theodore  A 554 

Hill,  Edgar  P 603 

Hill,  Edward  Munson 618 

Hill,  Felix  R 610 

Hill,  Harry  Granison 569 

Hill,  William  Bancroft 593 

Hillis,  Newell  Dwight 593 

Hillis,  W.  A 600 

Hinds,  J.  I.  D 6io 

Hirschy,  Noah  C 600 

Hitchcock,  Albert  W 577 

Hitchcock,  Charles  E 600 

Hitchcock,  Joseph  Edson..  .600 

Hoagland,  Descom  D S69 

Hoar,  Carohne S77 

Hobbs,  Mary  M 598 

Hoben,  T.  Allan 615 

Hobson,  A.  A.,  Rev 573 

Hodgson,  F"rank  W s7o 

Hodge,  Richard  M S93 

Hodges,  B.  A 611 

Holden,  Arthur  J 612 

Hoistendahl,  Anders  W.  .  .  .6is 

Hollett,  CM 601 

Holmes,  Alice  M 573 

Holmes,  Jesse  H 605 

Holmes,  L.  P S83 

Ho'mes,  William  T SS4 

Holt,  Charles  S 562 

Hood,  William  Lenoir 609 

Hoover,  Oliver  P 60s 

Hopkins   Henry  M 577 

Hoppaugh,  William s88 

Home,  Herman  H 587 


Home,  L  W 613 

Horr,  George  E 577 

Horton,  Lyman  G 609 

Horstman,  J.  G 569 

Horswell,  Charles 562 

Hotchkiss,  Ada  S ss4 

Hotton,  J.  Sidney 562 

Houchens,  Walter  0 562 

Houghton,  Albert  C 601 

Houghton,  Mrs.  Louise  Sey- 
mour  594 

Hou.sekeeper,  H.  M 60s 

Houston,  James  W 60s 

Howard,  Ethel  L S77 

Howard,  George  P 57° 

Howard,  Thomas  D S77 

Howe,  James  Albert 573 

Howe,  James  L 613 

Howland,  Clark  P s8s 

Hoyt,  Henry  N 577 

Hubbell,  George  A 572 

Huber,  EU 606 

Hud.son,  Frances  L 594 

Huestis,  Charles  H 616 

Hughes,  Edwin  H S69 

Hughes,  J.  L 617 

Hughes,  Richard  Cecil 61  s 

Hulbert,  Eri  B 562 

Huhng,  Ray  Greene S77 

Hull,  William  C S94 

Hullcy,  Lincoln SS7 

Humpstone,  John 594 

Hunt,  Emory  W 601 

Hunter,  John  D 585 

Huntington,  C.  W S77 

Huntington,  George  P 587 

Hurlbut,  Jesse  L s88 

Hutcheson,  Mary  E 601 

Hutchin.son,  Charles  L 562 

Hutchinson,  Edward  S 606 

Hutchinson,  Reno 603 

Hutton,  Mancius  Holmes.  .  s88 

Huyler,  John  S S94 

Hyde,  Frederick  S S54 

Hyde,  George  F' SS4 

Hyde,  Henry  K 577 

Hyde,  WilUam  DeWitt 573 

I 

Ingham,  J.  E 571 

Inglis,  James  Gale 582 

Inman,  S.  G 611 

Innis,  Geo.  S 583 

Irving  Institute SS2 

Ives,  Mrs.  Charles  L SS4 

J 

Jackman,  Wilbur  S 562 

Jackson,  Heru-y  E 606 

Jackson,  John  L 562 

Jacobus,  Melancthon  W. . .  .SS4 

Jacoby,  Henry  S S94 

James,  D.  Melancthon S77 

James,  Edmund  J S62 

Jenanyan,  H.  S 606 

Jenkins,  Burris  A 572 

Jenkins,  E.  O S94 

Jesse,  Richard  H s8s 

Jewish     Theological     Sem. 

of  America S98 

John,  Lewis  F' 606 

Johns  Hopkins  University.  .574 

Johnson,  Arthur  S 577 

Johnson,  B.  F S57 

Johnson,  E.  E.  S 606 

Johnson,  Frankhn  W S73 

Johnson,  George  K 606 

John.son,  S.  Arthur SS3 

Johnson ,  Theodore  A 60 1 

Johnson,  T.  Neil 598 

Johnston  Henry  J 588 

Johnston,  R.  P S94 


Johnstone,  N.  W s7o 

Johonnot,  R.  F 562 

Joiner,  R.  E 611 

Jones,  Jenkin  Lloyd 562 

Jones,  Mrs.  Hiram  T s88 

Jones,  Philip  L 606 

Jones,  Rufus  M 606 

Jones,  Silas 562 

Jones,  Thomas  Henry 601 

Jones,  Thomas  Jesse 613 

Jones.  Wilham  M s8s 

Jontz,  Ida  V S94 

Jordan,  W.  G 617 

Judd,  Orrin  R S94 

Judson,  Mrs.  Charles  N..  .  .S94 
Jump,  Herbert  A S73 

K 

Kaighn,  Edward  B 611 

Kallenberg,  H.  F 562 

Kane,  Wilham  P 569 

Keedy,  John  L 577 

Keevil,  Charles  J 594 

Keigwin,  A.  Edwin 589 

Keim,  L.  M 606 

Keith,  Herbert  C S94 

Keith,  Lucy  E 6oi 

Kellogg,  Mrs.  George  A..  .  .  SS4 

Kelly,  Robert  Lincoln S69 

Kelsey,  Henry  H SS4 

Kendall,  Georgiana S94 

Kendrick,  Eliza  H S77 

Kennedy,  Mrs.  M.  G 606 

Kenngott,  George  F 577 

Kent,  Charles  F 554 

Kent,  John  B 572 

Kent,  Robert  J 594 

Kcppel,  Charles  H 585 

Kidder,  B.  F 554 

Kilbon,  John  Luther 577 

Kilbourne,  E.  C 613 

Kilburn,  J.  K 612 

Kimball,  Clarence  O 553 

Kimball,  Frank 562 

Kimball,  Hannah  Parker.    .577 

Kimljall,  Kate  F 562 

King,  George  W 585 

King,  Henry  Churchill 601 

King,  John  W 601 

King,  Mrs.  Aubrey  E 573 

King,  William  V 570 

Kirbye,  J.  Edward 557 

Kirkland,  James  H 610 

Kling,  W.  A SS2 

Kloss,  Charles  L 606 

Knight,  Edward  H 577 

Knight,  Joseph  King 554 

Knowles,  Richard 573 

Knox,  George  P 589 

Kribs,  Herbert  Guy 608 

Kriebel,  Oscar  S 605 

Kroeger,  Ernest  R 586 

Krumreig,  E.  L 576 

Kuhn,  Thomas  H 565 

Kump,  William  A 589 

Kundest,  Olive  Mae 594 

Kunkle,  Edward  C 615 

L 

Ladd,  George  Edwin 612 

Lahman,  William  H 563 

Laidlaw,  Robert  S 617 

Laidlaw,  Walter 594 

Lake,  E.  M S82 

Lake  Forest  College 568 

Lamson,  Frankhn  S 557 

Landrith,  Ira 563 

Lane,  Albert  G 563 

Langdon,  George 554 

Lanier,  M.  B 606 

Lanphear,  Mrs.  H.  M 563 

Lansdale,  Herbert  P S94 


INDEX  OF  MEMBERS 


627 


Latham,  H.  L 619 

Lathrop,  Miss  A.  C 589 

Lathrop.  William  G sss 

Lauderbaum,  Frederic  C. .  .578 

Laughlin,  J,  W 563 

Laws,  Annie 601 

Lawrence  Martha  E 601 

Lawrence,  William 578 

Lawson,  Victor  F 563 

Leach,  Frank  P 609 

Leavitt,  Bradford 552 

Leavitt,  J.  A 563 

Lee,  Israel  S 606 

Lee,  L.  O 619 

Leech,  William  H 614 

Leedom ,  Ira  C 589 

Leete,  William  White 555 

Leonard,  Mary  Hall 578 

Levering,  Frank  H 619 

Lewis,  A.  H 589 

Lewis,  Everett  E 555 

Lewis,  F.  G 613 

Lewis,  William  H 614 

Lhamon,  W.  J 586 

Lichliter,  McLiyar  H 606 

Lincoln,  Howard  A 578 

Linhart,  S.  B 606 

Lindsay,  Mary  B 563 

Little  ,\rthur 578 

Little,  Arthur  M 563 

Little,  R.  M 563 

Littletield,  George  B 614 

LittleUeld,  Milton  S 594 

Livcrmore,  Leander  E 589 

Llewellepc,  Alice  A 606 

Lloyd,  Louis  D 552 

Loba,  Jean  Frederic 563 

Locke,  Adelaide  1 578 

Locke,  George  H 563 

Lock  wood  J.  R.  D 594 

Loder,  A.  L 612 

Logan,  John  W 578 

Logan,  Wellington  MCM...S94 

Logan,  William  C 610 

Long,  John  D S94 

Longacre,  Lindsay  B 594 

Lord,  Mrs.  John  B 563 

Lord,  Rivington  D 594 

IxJtze,  William  G SSS 

Lovejoy,  Irving  Roscoe 552 

Lowden,  Frank  O 563 

Lucas,  Aquila, 616 

Leads,  S.  P 587 

Lutz,  Adam  R sSS 

Lyman,  Eugene  W 584 

Lyman,  Frederick  W 584 

Lyman,  Louise  H 612 

Lynch,  Frederick 594 

Lynch,  John  C 614 

Lynn,  Jay  Elwood 563 

Lyon,  Elwood  P 614 

Lyons,  S.  R 569 

M 

MacAllister,  James 606 

MacArthur,  Robert  S 594 

Macaulay,  Joseph  P $52 

MacChesney,  Xathan  W. .  .  563 
MacClelland,  George  L. . . .  594 
MacClintock,  William  D. .  .563 
MacClintock,  Mrs.  Wm.  D..563 

MacCracken,  .\nna  M 60 1 

MacDonald,  Robert 595 

Macfarland,  Charles  S 578 

MacFarland,  Henry  B.  F. .  .557 

MacKay,  A.  H 617 

Mackay,  Edward  W 617 

Mackenzie,  William  Do.  .  .  .  sss 

Maclachlan,  H.  D.  C 572 

MacLean,  George  E 570 

MacLean,  Joseph 557 

MacMillan,  Thomas  C S63 


MacRae,  A.  O 616 

Magee,  Harriet  Cecil 615 

Mahy,  George  G 606 

Maile,  John  L SS2 

Main,  Arthur  E S9S 

Makepeace,  F.  Barrows. .  .  .  S9S 

Mallory,  Hervey  F 563 

Mannheimcr,  Leo 613 

Manton,  Charles 611 

Marsh,  Charles  A 563 

Marsh,  Edward  L S73 

Marsh,  Elizabeth  M sSS 

Marsh,  F.  W 55s 

Marsh,  Robert  L 570 

Marshall,  Benjamin  T 595 

Marshall,  FVaser  G 617 

Mason,  Edward  A 573 

Mason,  William  T S9S 

Mathews,  Shailer 563 

Mathews,  S.  Sherberne.  ...  sss 

Mathie,  Karl 615 

Matteson,  William  B 589 

Matthews  Paul 601 

Mattison,  A.  M 601 

Mattson,  Bernard  G 610 

Matz,  Rudolph S63 

Mauck,  Joseph  W 582 

Maurer,  Oscar  E 555 

McAfee,  Cleland  B S63 

McAllister,  Cloyd  N sSS 

McCash,  I.  N 570 

McClelland,  T.  Calvin 6og 

McClenahan,  David  A 606 

McColle.ster,  Lee  S S82 

McCollum,G.  T 563 

McCormick,  Harold  F S63 

McCormick,  S.  B 570 

McCormick,  Stanley  M.  .  .  .  563 

McCrillis,  A.  B 609 

McCuUock,  Frank  H s63 

McDiarmid,  A.  P 616 

McDougall,  George  L 587 

McDougall,  W.  C 617 

McDowell,  William  Fra.ser.s64 
McFadycn,  John  Edgar. . .  .617 

McGill,  Stephenson  W 6io 

McGrew,  Henry  Edwin. . .  .603 

McKamy,  John  A 610 

McKee,  William  P 564 

McKelway,  A.J 598 

McKenny,  Charles 6is 

McKibben,  William  K S64 

McKittrick,  William  J s86 

McLaughlin,  Robert  W.  .  .  .582 

McLean,  John  Knox 552 

McLean,  Joseph  K 606 

McLean,  Lester,  Jr 564 

McLeish,  Andrew 564 

McLeish,  Mrs.  Andrew.  .  .  .564 

McLeod,  Donald 614 

McMillen,  W.  F 564 

McMurry,  Frank  Norton. .  .  S9S 

McPherson,  Simon  J 589 

McVickar,  William  N 609 

McWilliams,  Lafayette S64 

Mead,  George  W 609 

Means,  Frederick  H 578 

Meeser,  Spenser  B 582 

Mehaffey,  George  W S78 

Melish,  John  Howard 595 

Men's  Normal  Bible  Class  of 
the  Young  Men's  Christian 

Association s68 

Merriam,  Alexander  R S55 

Merriam,  Edmund  F 578 

Merriam,  George  E S9S 

Merrick,  Frank  W S78 

Merrill,  Bert  Ward 617 

Merrill,  Charles  C 578 

Merrill,  George  Edwards. .  .S9S 

Merrill,  George  R 584 

Merrill,  Harry  W 595 


Merrill,  William  P 564 

Merriman,  Daniel 578 

Merritt,  W.  C 614 

Messer,  L.  Wilbur 564 

Messer,  Mrs.  L.  Wilbur.. .  .564 

Metcalf,  Irving  W 601 

Metcalf,  John  M.  P sSi 

Metcalf.  L.  H 573 

Metcalf,  Paul  H S84 

Meyer,  Hugo S89 

Michael,  Oscar  S 606 

Miles,  Harry  R 612 

Millard,  Martin  J S87 

Miller,  D.  L.,  Rev 564 

Miller,  Edward  W S9S 

Miller,  Emma  L S48 

Miller,  John  C 57 1 

Miller,  Kerby  S S64 

Miller,  Mrs.  Emily  H sSS 

Miller,  Rufus  W 606 

Miller,  Watler S72 

Milligan,  Henry  Forsythe..  .564 

Milliken,  Charles  D 552 

Mills,  Charles  S 601 

Mills,  John  Nelson 564 

Mills,  J.  S 606 

Milner,  Duncan  C 564 

Miner,  Mrs.  Harriett  H .  .  .  .613 

Mitchell   B.  G SSI 

Mitchell,  ChariesB 601 

Mitchell,  David  E 611 

Mitchell,  Edwin  Knox sss 

Mitchell,  Hinckley  G 578 

Mitchell,  Mrs.  S.  S soS 

Mitchell,  Samuel  C 613 

Moncrief ,  John  W 564 

Montague,  H.  E S72 

Montgomery,  Bertha  E 601 

Montgomery,  George  R. . .  .  555 

Moor,  George  Caleb 564 

Moore,  CaroUne  Sheldon. .  .578 

Moore,  Edward  C S78 

Moore,  Henrietta  G 60 1 

Moore,  James  H 564 

Moore,  John  M 611 

Moore,  Mabel  Reynolds. ...  578 

Moore,  S.  J 617 

Moorehead,  Frederick  B. .  .564 

Moorland,  J.  E 557 

Morgan,  Charles  H.. S9S 

Morgan,  John  Francis 589 

Morgan,  Oscar  T 564 

Morris,  Frank  R 612 

Morris,  George  K 601 

Morris,  Margaretta 606 

Morris,  James  C 586 

Morris,  S.  T 582 

Morse,  Warren 613 

Mosher,  George  F S78 

Mott,  Thomas  Abbott 5^9 

Mountford,   Lydia  M.  Von 

Finkelstein S9S 

Mount  Holyoke  College. . .  .581 

Mowbray,  Henry  B SS2 

Moxom,  Philip  S 578 

Muckley,  G.  W 586 

Mudge,  Elisha 564 

Mullins,  Edgar  Young S72 

Munger,  Orett  L S64 

Murfee,  H.  O SSi 

Murlin,  Lemuel  H 571 

Murray,  George  Wellwood.sSg 

Murray,  Walter  C 617 

Murray,  William  D 595 

Mutch,  William  J ssS 

Myers,  Elmer  H S89 

Myers,  J.  O 615 

Myers,  Tobias  Timothy. . .  .606 

N 

Nash,  C.  Ellwood S78 

Nash,  Charles  S SS* 


628 


THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 


Nash,  Henry  Sylvester 578 

Nason,  George  F 595 

Neff,  Silas  E 607 

Neill,  Henry 582 

Neilson,  Nellie 578 

Nelson,  Aaron  Hayden 564 

New    Church     Educational 

Association 590 

New  Ch.  League  of  Young 

People's  Societies ss7 

Newell,  William  W 586 

Newhall,  Alfred  A 578 

Newlin,  Thomas 598 

Newton,  Richard  Heber 595 

Nicholas,  R.  W 615 

Nichols,  John  R 601 

Nicholson,  James  C 564 

Nicholson,  Mary  E 569 

Nicholson,  Thomas 610 

Nicholson,  Mrs.  W.  R 607 

Nicolas,  John 595 

Nie,  Randolph  F 617 

Noblit,  Joseph  C 607 

Norris,  Ada  L 589 

Northwestern  College. 568 

Northwestern  University. .  .568 

Norton,  A.  Wellington 610 

Norton,  Helen  S 557 

Norton,  Susan  W 610 

Norton,  WilHam  B 564 

Norton,  William  W 584 

Notman,  WilUam  Robson.  .564 

Noyes,  Edward  M 578 

Noyes,  G.  C 564 

Noyes,  Henry  D 578 

O 

Oakes,  R.  Welton 611 

Oakley,  E.  Clarence 582 

Oates,  James  F 565 

Oberlin  College  Library.  .  .603 

O'Brien,  James  P 586 

Ogden,  Robert  C 595 

O'Grady,  Caroline  G 595 

Ohio  Wesleyan  University.  .603 

Olmstead,  Edgar  H 555 

Olson,  Charles  Willard 611 

Omwake,  George  Leslie. . .  .607 

Orr,  E.  A 6io 

Osborn,  F.  W 59s 

Osborn,  Loran  D 565 

Osborne,  Naboth 565 

Osgood,  Robert  Storrs 570 

Otterbein  University 603 

Otto,  James  T 565 

Oviatt,  F.  C 607 

Owen,  Samuel  H.  C 585 

Owens,  John  R 601 

P 
Pacific  Theological  Sem. . .  552 

Pacific  University 603 

Packard,  Annie  E 578 

Paddock,  George  E 570 

Page,  Herman 565 

Page,  Mrs.  Mary  B 565 

Palm,  Charles 565 

Palmer,  Burton  M 552 

Palmer,  Frederick 59s 

Palmer,  Lois  Sedgwick 595 

Parker,  Alonzo  K 565 

Parker,  CM 565 

Parker,  Fitzgerald  Sale 611 

Parker,  Frederic  C.  W 578 

Parker,  William  J 565 

Parkhurst,  Matthew  M 565 

Parks,  Edward  L 557 

Parsons,  Edward  Lambe. . .  552 

Parsons,  J 615 

PatcheU,  Chas.  T 582 

Patten,  Amos  W 565 

Patten,  Arthur  B 579 


Patterson,  M.  T 589 

Patton,  Cornelius  H 586 

Patton,  Horace  B 553 

Patton,  Walter  M 571 

Paxton,  EHzabeth  D 589 

Payne,  Wallace  C 571 

Peabody,  Endicott 579 

Peabody ,  Francis  G 579 

Peabody,  Helen  L 610 

Pearcy,  James  B 569 

Pearson,  William  L 570 

Pease,  George  W 555 

Pease,  John  D 595 

Peck,  Jennie  L 612 

Peckham,  George  A 601 

Peebles,  Francis  H 612 

Peloubet,  Francis  N 579 

Pennoyer,  C.  H 595 

Penrose,  Stephen  B.  L 614 

Peoria  Public  Library 568 

Perkins,  John  C 573 

Perkins,  J.  G 565 

Perkins,  Penrose 607 

Perkins,  R.  W 572 

Perry,  Alfred  T 601 

Perry,  C.  H 579 

Perry,  Ernest  B 582 

Pershing,  Orlando  B 595 

Persons,  F.  P 555 

Peters,  John  P 595 

Peters,  Nanna  Heath 589 

Pettit,  Mrs.  Alonzo 589 

Phelps,  Lawrence 579 

Phillips,  AUce  M.  M 586 

Phillips,  George  W 613 

Philhps,  T.  F 601 

Philputt,  Allan  B 569 

Pierce,  Lyman  L 557 

Piersel,  Alba  C 570 

Pike,  Grant  E 601 

Pike,  Granville  Ross 565 

Pike,  Henry  H 595 

Pilcher,  M.  B 611 

Pinkham,  George  R 579 

Pinkham,  Henry  W 553 

Place,  Charles  A 579 

Plantz,  Samuel 615 

Piatt,  Caroline  M 596 

Plymouth  Congregational 
Sunday  School ,  Minne- 
apolis, Minn 584 

Pollard,  Harry  H 601 

Pond,  Chauncey  N 602 

Pope,  Edward  R 584 

Porter,  Frank  C 555 

Porter,  J.  J 586 

Porter,  Lucius  Chapin 555 

Porter,  Mrs.  Ora  H 565 

Potter,  Ernest  T 579 

Potter,  Rockwell  Harmon   .  555 

Potts,  Joseph 598 

Power,  Charles  W 579 

Power,  Frederick  D 557 

Prairie  View  State  Normal 
and  Industrial  College.  ..612 

Pratt,  Dwight  M 602 

Pratt,  John  R 589 

Pratt,  Waldo  S sss 

Pressey,  Edwin  S 584 

Price,  Maude 571 

Price,  S.  Eber 615 

Provine,  W.  A 611 

Prucha,  Vaclav 584 

Pruen,  J.  W 565 

Puffer,  WiUiam  Martin ....  583 
Purinton,  Daniel  B 614 

Q 

Quehl,  Jacob 617 

R 
Ranck,  Henry  H 607 


Randall,  J.  Herman 583 

Ranney,  William  W 555 

Rath,  James  A 579 

Rawlison,  Charles  F 596 

Raymond,  Andrew  V.  V. . . .  596 

Raymond,  C.  Rexford 602 

Redfield,  Isabella  T 579 

Reed,  David  Allen 579 

Reed,  George  Edward 607 

Reed,  Lewis  T 596 

Reed,  Luther  D 607 

Reed,  Mrs.  Lsaac  N 573 

Reeder,  Gleyen  Asbury. . .  .602 

Reeder,  R.  R 596 

Reeve,  Emily  A 603 

Rehrig,  W.  M 607 

Rhees,  Rush 596 

Rhoades,  Winfred  C 579 

Rice,  Austin 614 

Rice,  Charles  F 579 

Rice,  Walter 579 

Rice,  William  N 555 

Richards,  Charles  H 596 

Richards,  Louis  J 607 

Richardson,  Cynes 587 

Richmond,  George  C 596 

Richmond,  Louis  O 602 

Rideout,  Melvin  B 557 

Riggs,  James  Stevenson.  .  .  .  596 

Rihbany,  Abraham  M 602 

Robbins,  Mrs.  D.  R 584 

Robert,  Heru-y  M 589 

Roberts,  H.  B 555 

Roberts,  W.  Dewee 579 

Robertson,  Ina  Law 565 

Robertson,  J.  M 607 

Robinson,  Charles  F 555 

Robinson.  Emma  A 570 

Robinson,  George  L 565 

Robinson,  Joseph  H 596 

Robinson,  Joseph  M 607 

Robinson,  Willard  H 565 

Roblee,  Mrs.  Joseph  H 586 

Rockwell,  Adeline  B 613 

Roe   Charles 565 

Rogers,  Dwight  Leete 579 

Rogers,  Euchd  B 565 

Rogers,  Jo.seph  M 583 

Rollins,  G.  S 584 

Romig,  Edwin  Howard.  .  .  .607 

Roop,  Marcus  J 589 

Root,  Edward  Tallmadge.  .609 

Root,  James  Winston 611 

Root,  Theophilus  H 609 

Roots,  Willard  H 558 

Ropes,  C.J.  H 573 

Ropes,  James  Hardy 579 

Ropes,  WiUiam  Ladd 579 

Rosenquist,  Eric  J.  A 565 

Rosevear,  Henry  E 572 

Ross,  J.  Thorburn.. 603 

Ross,  William  A 616 

Roth,  Charles  E 607 

Roundy,  Rodney  W 613 

Rowe,  "Stuart  H S5S 

Rousmaniere,  E.  S 609 

Rowley,  Francis  H 579 

Rowlison,  Carlos  C 602 

Russell,  Elbert 569 

Russell,  James  E 596 

Russell,  J.  Elmer 596 

Rust,  James  Urmston 611 

Ryder,  C.  J 596 

Rynearson,  Edward 607 

S 

Sage,  A.  H 615 

Sailer,  T.  H.  P 589 

Sale,  George 557 

Salisbury,  Albert 615 

Sallmon,  WilHam  H 584 

Sanders,  Frank  Knight 556 


INDEX  OF  MEMBERS 


629 


Sanderson,  E.  Dwight 612 

Sanderson,  Edward  F 6og 

Sanderson,  Lydia  E so6 

Sanford,  Caroline  H 607 

Sanford,  Charles  E 556 

Sanford,  Ralph  A 556 

Savage,  G.  L.  F s6s 

Sawin,  Theophilus  P 596 

Sawyer,  Hermon  L 615 

Sawyer,  Mrs.  Edgar  P 615 

Scarritt,  Charles  W 586 

Schaeffer,  Nathan  C 607 

Schafer,  F.  H 551 

Scheible,  Albert 565 

Schenck,  F.  S 589 

Schmidt,  Nathaniel 596 

Scott,  George 602 

Scott,  L.  G 584 

Scott,  Mrs.  L.  G 584 

Scott,  Robert 589 

Scott,  Mrs.  Robert  S 565 

Scott,  Walter  D 565 

Scoville,  Charles  R 565 

Scruton,  Charles  A S7i 

Scudder,  Doremus 557 

Scudder,  Myron  Tracy 596 

Scudder,  William  H 552 

Searle,  Frederick  E 583 

Sears,  Charles  H 615 

Seaton,  D.  T 618 

See,  Edwin  F 596 

Seeley,  Levi 589 

Seelye,  L.  Clark 579 

Seligsberg,  Ahce  Lillie 596 

Selleck,  Willard  C 609 

Semelroth,  WUHam  J 586 

Senior,  Daniel  L 607 

Severance,  Lemuel 615 

Severinghaus,  J.  D 566 

Severn,  Hermon  H s7o 

Sewall,  A.  C 596 

Sewall,  Charles  G 596 

Sewall,  John  L 613 

Sewell,G.  P 596 

Sexton,  Wilson  D 596 

Seymour,  A.  H 610 

Seymour,  Paul  H 566 

Shanks,  L.  E 615 

Sharman,  Henry  Burton.. . .  s66 

Shaw,  Charles  F 607 

Shaw,  Charles  Gray 596 

Shaw,  Daniel  W 607 

Shaw,  Edwin  S S99 

Shaw,  James  A 579 

Shaw,  William 579 

Sheets,  Frank  D 566 

Sheldon,  Walter  L 586 

Shepard,  Elgin  R 586 

Sherer,  Samuel  J 566 

Shercr,  William  G 566 

Sherman,  Edwin  T 566 

Sherman,  Franklyn  Cole. .  .566 

Sherman,  Henry  A 596 

Sherry,  Norman  B 596 

Shipman,  Frank  R 579 

Short,  Wallace  M 586 

Short,  William 586 

Short,  Wm.  Harvey 615 

Shucv,  Edwin  L 602 

Shurtlefl,  G.  H 602 

Sibley,  Josiah 552 

Sigmund,  William  S 569 

Silverman,  Joseph 596 

Simmons,  Harvey  L 597 

Simon,  Abram 557 

Simons,  Minot  0 602 

Sinclair,  N.  R.  D 617 

Singmaster,  J.  A 607 

Sisson,  Edward  O 618 

Slade,  William  F 607 

Slater,  John  R 366 

Slayton,  Henry  A 613 


Sleeper,  W.  W 579 

Sloane,  Joseph  Curtis 566 

Slocum,  William  F 553 

Small,  Albion  W 566 

Smiley,  WiUiam  H SS3 

Smith,  Albert  D 579 

Smith,  Alexander  Mackay..6o7 

Smith,  Arthur  Maxson 566 

Smith,  Charles  Alden 584 

Smith,  Clifford  H. 613 

Smith,  Edward  Lincoln. . .  .614 

Smith ,  Ernest  Dailey 569 

Smith,  Erwin  K 556 

Smith,  E.  Sinclair 612 

Smith,  Everett 614 

Smith,  Fred  B 597 

Smith,  George  LeGrand 570 

Smith,  Gerald  Birney 566 

Smith,  Henry  Goodwin 602 

Smith,  Henry  I'reserved. . . .  S79 

Smith,  Howard  N 603 

Smith,  Howard  Wayne 607 

Smith,  James  R 566 

Smith,  J.  Frank 612 

Smith,  John  M.  P 566 

Smith,  Madison  R 586 

Smith,  Mrs.  Ehza  T 556 

Smith,  Mrs.  F.  N 602 

Smith,  Otterbein  O 570 

Smith,  R.  Lynes 573 

Smith,  Roelif  B 597 

Smith,  Samuel  G 584 

Smith,  Thomas  F 597 

Smith,  Wilfred  Fernando. .  .603 

Smith,  William 586 

Smith,  William  H 617 

Smith,  WilUam  W 597 

Smither,  A.  C 552 

Smythe,  George  F 602 

Snedecor,  James  G 551 

Snedeker,  Charles  H 602 

Snow,  B.  P 573 

Snyder,  Henry  Nelson 609 

Snyder,  William  H s8o 

Soares,  Theodore  G 566 

Somerville,  J.  Forrest 618 

Sondericker,  Josephine  E. .  .602 
South  Cong.  Sunday  School, 

Springfield,  Mass 581 

South  Cong. Young  People's 
Society  of   Christian   En- 

or,  Springfield,  Mass 581 

Southwestern  University. . .  .612 
Southworth,  Franklin  C. . . .  607 

Spencer,  Claudius  B 586 

Spicer,  R.  Barclay 607 

Springer,  Ruter  W 573 

Springston,  Jenkins 571 

Sprowls,  Thomas  W 616 

Squires,  Vernon  P 599 

Stafford,  Daniel  Newton. .  ..589 

Stamps,  C.  T 585 

Stansfield,  Joshua 569 

Starbuck,  Edwin  D 569 

Starkey,  L.  V 566 

Starrett,  Mrs.  Helen  E 566 

Stearns,  Wallace  Nelson. . .  .566 

Stearns,  WiUiam  F 556 

Stcphan,  John  F 602 

Stevens,  Charles  E 580 

Stevens,  Frank  V 616 

Stevens,  William  Arnold. . .  .597 

Stevenson,  Andrew 566 

Stevenson,  Richard  Taylor.  .602 

Stevenson,  T.  P 607 

Stewart,  Charles  S 566 

Stewart,  Everett 607 

Stewart,  George  B 597 

Stewart,  John  A 597 

Stewart,  J.  W.  A 597 

Stickney,  Edwin  H S99 

Stillman,  T.  E 597 


Stimson,  Cyrus  Flint 586 

Stimson,  Henry  A S97 

St.  John,  Edward  P 597 

St.  John,  Edward  P 607 

Stoddard,  Frank  P 597 

Stokes,  Olivia  E.  P S97 

Stone,  R.  Foster 586 

Stonebridge,  William  F S97 

Stoneman,  Albert  H 583 

Stoppard,  Ahce  Hart S97 

Stoops,  J.  Dashiell 580 

Stowcll,C.  B 583 

Stowell,  Myron  C 583 

Strain,  Horace  L 566 

Strayer,  Luther  Milton 613 

Strayer,  Paul  Moore 597 

Street,  WiUiam  D 597 

Strong,  Frank 571 

Strong,  Frank  P 571 

Strong,  Fred 556 

Strong,  James  W 584 

Strong,  Josiah 597 

Strong,  Sidney 566 

Stuart,  Charles  M 566 

Sulhvan,  J.  W 586 

Sunday  School  Commission 
of  the  Diocese  of  Cali. .  . .  553 

Sunderland,  J.  T 618 

Sutherland,  AUan 608 

Sutherland,  J.  B 584 

Sutherland,  John  W 583 

Sutton,  Edwin  O 580 

Swain,  Edith  L 580 

Swain,  Joseph 608 

Swain,  Richard  L 587 

Swan,  Mrs.  Joshua  A 580 

Swart ,  Rose  C 616 

Swarthmore  CoUege 608 

Sweeney,  Algernon  T 589 

Sweet,  Franklin  W 583 

Swertfager,  George  A 566 

Swing,  Albert  T 602 

Sydenstricker,  Hiram  M 585 

T 

Taft,  Lorado 566 

Talmadge,  Elliott  Ford 556 

Tatlock,  WUHam 608 

Taylor,  Alva  W 566 

Taylor,  Glenn  A 571 

Taylor,  Graham 567 

Taylor,  Livingston  L 597 

Taylor,  Marcus  B 597 

Taylor,  S.  Earl 597 

Taylor,  William  B. 611 

Taylor,  WiUiam  Rivers S97 

Tenney,  WUliam  Lawrence. 567 

Thayer,  Charles  S 556 

Thayer,  Lucius  H 587 

Thomas,  A.  J.  S 609 

Thomas,  D.  F 567 

Thomas,  Marion 589 

Thomas,  Percy 584 

Thomas,  Reuen 580 

Thomers,  Henry  H 608 

Thompson,  John  C 618 

Thompson,  M.  A 567 

Thompson,  W.  Ashton 609 

Thompson,  William  Oxley..6o2 

Thoren,  Herman  H 571 

Thorp,  Willard  B 567 

ThraU,  W.  Herbert 610 

Throop,  Pharis  T 611 

Thurber ,  Charles  H 580 

Thwing,  Charles  F 602 

Tillett,  Wilbur  F 611 

Timm,  John  A 556 

Tin.slcy,  Charles  WUliam . . .  569 

Tippy,  Worth  M 569 

Titsworth,  Judson 616 

Tomkins,  Floyd  W 608 

Tompkins,  Arnold 567 


630 


THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 


Tompkins,  DeLoss  M 567 

Torrey,  C.  C 587 

Totusek,  Vincent 613 

Tower,  \V'm.  Hogarth 580 

Tracy,  Frederick 618 

TreFethren,  Eugene  B 610 

Trinity  M.E.  Sunday  School, 

Berkeley,  Calif 553 

Tucker,  William  J 588 

Tulane  University  Library. 572 

Taller,  Edward  P 583 

Turner,  George  H 567 

Tuttle,  John  Ellery 387 

Tweedy,  Henry  Hallam.  .  ,  .556 

Twichell,  Joseph  H ss6 

Tyler,  B.  B S53 

Tyler,  Corydon  C 608 

Tyrells,  Mrs.  S.  J.  T 616 

U 

Ullrick,  Delbert  S 567 

University  of  Chicago 568 

University  of  Kansas 571 

University  of  Missouri 586 

University  of  Rochester.  .  .  ,  598 

Unsworth,  Joseph  K 618 

Updegraff ,  Harlan 573 

V 

Valparaiso  College 569 

VanArsdall,  Geo.  B 567 

Vance,  Joseph  A 567 

Vance,  Selby  F 602 

Vandermark,  Wilson  E 580 

VanDyke,  Henry 589 

VanHoesen,  Fred  J 567 

VanKirk,  Hiram,  Rev 552 

VanKirk,  Robert  W 583 

VanMeter,  J.  B 573 

VanSickle,  James  H 573 

VanSlyke,  J.  G 597 

VanWagoner,  Charles  D . . .  584 

Varley,  Arthur 573 

Vangfian,  Richard  M 616 

Vaughan,  Robert  W 572 

Vaughn,  Howard  R 616 

Verdier,  A.  R 586 

Vincent,  George  E 567 

Vincent,  Marvin  R 597 

Vinton,  Alexander  H 580 

Vinton,  G.  Jay 583 

Vogt,  Von  Ogden 580 

Voorhees,  J.  Spencer 580 

Vose,  Frederick  Perry 567 

Votaw,  Clyde  Weber 567 

Votaw,  Mrs.  Elihu  H 576 

W 

Waddilt.C.  J 573 

Waite,  Oren  B 571 

Wakefield,  E.  B 602 

Wakefield,  George  C 571 

Walcott,  Gregory  D 600 

Walker,  Williston 556 

Walklev,  Frances  S s.s6 

Wallar,"W.  C.  A S84 

Wallin,  V.  A 583 

Walls,  Alfred 602 


Walls,  Polk  W 551 

Walton,  George  A 608 

Walton,  Joseph  S 608 

Wanamaker,  John 608 

Ward,  Harry  F ^67 

Ward    Seminary  for  Young 

Ladies 61  t 

Wardle,  Mrs.  Charles  A. .  .  .  567 

Ware,  Edward  T 557 

Ware,  Louie  Erville 580 

Warren,  Edward  K 583 

Warren,  William  F 588 

Warriner,  Eugene  C 583 

Washington,  Booker  T 551 

Watson,  Charles  M 608 

Watson,  W.  H 618 

Webb,  Clarence  E s.'JS 

Webb,  John  M 611 

Webb,  William  R 611 

Webster,  Lillian  M 556 

Weeks,  John  W 590 

Welch,  Moses  C 557 

Welleslev  College 581 

Wells,  Amo.s.  R 580 

Wells,  F.  A 567 

Wenley,  Robert  M 583 

Wentworth,  Russell  A 597 

West  Virginia  University.  .  .614 

Wharton,  Charles  A 590 

Wheeler,  Arthur  Dana 567 

Wheeler,  Carleton  Ames. . . .  580 

Wheeler,  Clara 583 

Wheeler,  E.  C 580 

Whidden,  Howard  P 616 

White,  Ada  E 584 

White,  Alfred  T 612 

White,  Charles  E 565 

White,  Frederick 567 

White,  Grace  D 590 

White,  James  Daniel 611 

White,  Sherman  M 597 

White,  Willis  G 552 

Whitford,  A.  H 507 

Whitman  College 614 

Whitmore,  Holmes 602 

Whiton,  James  M 597 

Whitteker,  W.  F 598 

Whittemore,  Wilham  F.  .  .  .580 
Wicher,  Edward  Arthur.  . ,  .f  18 
Wickershane,  William  F.. .  .60S 

Wickes,  William  R 567 

Wiest,  Edward  Franklin.. .  .608 

Wiggins,  B.  L 611 

Wight,  Ambrose  S 571 

Wikel,  Henrv  H 590 

Wilbur,  Holl'is  A 602 

Wilbur,  J.  Milnor 608 

Wilcox,  Alexander  M 571 

Wilcox,  Daniel  L 598 

Wilder,  Herbert  A •;8o 

WUder,  William  H 567 

Wiles,  Ernest  P 569 

Wilkinson,  Jasper  Newton.. 571 

Willett,  Herbert  1 567 

Williams,  Albert  B 608 

Williams,  Appleton  P 580 

Williams,  Edward  F 567 

Williams,  Edward  M 567 


Williams,  George  G 608 

Williams,  Henry  S 598 

Williams,  Mary  Clark 598 

Williams,  Mrs.  AHce  L 568 

Williams,  Richard  R 598 

Williams,  Samuel  H 556 

Williams,  Theodore  C 616 

Williams,  Walter 586 

Williams,  William  J 571 

Williams,  W.  Owen 598 

Williamson,  James  S 580 

Wilmington    Institute   Free 

Library 556 

Wilson,  Alfred  G 616 

Wilson,  C.  J 568 

Wilson,  Edna  E 556 

Wilson,  Ferdinand  S 590 

Wilson,  George  G 609 

Wilson,  Lucy  L 568 

Wilson,  Willard  B 609 

Wilson,  William  H 560 

Winchester,  Benjamin  S.. .  .  568 

Winchester,  Caleb  T 556 

Winkley,  Samuel  H 580 

Winship,  A.  E 580 

Winston,  John  C 608 

Winter,  Alonzo  E 602 

Wishart,  Alfred  W 590 

Wittendorf,  Mrs.  J.  H 602 

Witter,  Marcus  A 568 

Wood,  Irving  F 580 

Wood,  Walter  M 568 

Woodard,  Mrs.  L.  A 603 

Woodbridge,  Richard  G.. . .  580 

Woodrow,  Samuel  H ^jSo 

Woods,  Erville  B 616 

Woods,  James  H 612 

WooUey,  Mary  E 580 

Woolworth,  William  S 598 

Worcester,  Edward  S 556 

Work,  Edgar  A 553 

Wright,  Henry  Collier 603 

Wright,  Theodore  F 580 

Wright,  W.  K 583 

Wriston,  Henry  L 581 

Wyant,  A.  R.  E 568 

Wyckoff ,  Charles  S 598 

Wyrkoff,  Clyde  H 586 

Wyman,  Arthur  J 988 

Wynne,  John  J 559 

y 

Yarnell,  D.  E 598 

Yates,  Callin  W 612 

Yoder,  Charles  F 603 

Young,  Charles  A 568 

Young,  Ernest  W 584 

Young,  Jesse  Bowman 603 

York,  Burt  Leon 5s6 

Young,  Mattie  T 586 

Z 

Zahn,  Edwn'n  L 55.^ 

Zenr.s,  Andrew  C 568 

Zerbe,  A.  S 603 

Zieglcr,  Charles  L 581 

Zimmerman,  Adam 608 

Zimmerman   Teremiah 508 


GENERAL  INDEX 


Adolescence,   Religious    Characteristics 
of,  244 

Adolescence,  The  Specific  Needs  of,  67 

Adolescent  Life,  The  Contact  of  Biblical 
Material  with,  67 

Alderson,  Victor  C,  456,  547 

Discussion:  Correspondence  Instruc- 
tion as  a  Factor  in  ReUgious  Culture, 
456 

Annual  Survey  of  Progress  in  Religious 
and  Moral  Education,  The,  86 

Architecture       and       Decoration       of 
Churches,    The    Educational    Values 

"^'  '^77    . 
Art,  Pictorial,  in  Religious  Instruction, 

Art,  Religious,  510 

Artistic  Influences  in  Religious  Educa- 
tion, The  Field  of,  508 

Bacon,  Benjamin  W.,  131,  519 

Address:  Courses  Bearing  on  the 
Bible  in  Practical  and  Intellectual 
Life,  131 

B 

Bailey,  Henry  Turner,  471,  548 

Address:  The  Use  of  Biblical  Pictures 
in  Teaching  Children,  471 

Baird,  Lucius  O.,  193 

Discussion:  The  Homiletic  Use  of  the 
Bible,  193 

Baldwin,  Josephine  L.,  61,  465,  519 
Address:    The    Contact    of    Biblical 
Material  with  the  Experience  of  the 
Child,  61 

Address:  Summer  Schools  of  Sunday- 
School  Methods,  465 

Bartlett,  George  G.,  388 

Address:  The  Test  of  Success  in 
Church  Boys'  Clubs,  388 

Best,  Nolan  R.,  425,  537,  546 

Address:  Relation  of  the  Religious 
Press  to  Religious  Education,  425 

Bible,  Adaptability  of,  to  Graded  Les- 
sons, 230,  234 

Bible,  Adequacy  of  the,  in  Dealing  with 
the  Crises  and  Emergencies  of  Life,  13 

Bible,  A  Historj-  of  Religious  Develop- 
ment, 231 

Bible  and  Modern  Civihzation,  The,  282 

Bible  and  Other  Subjects  of  Study,  The, 

75 
Bible  and  Religious  Experience,  3 


Bible  and  Spiritual  Needs,  The,  18 
Bible,  Application  of  the,  to  the  Child, 

65 
Bible  as  an  Interpreter  of  Life,  Unique 

Character  and  Value  of  the,  ir 
Bible  as  a  Source  of  Religious  Experi- 
ence, The,  177 
Bible  and  Social  Relationships,  The,  100 
Biljle  and  the  Scientific  Movement,  The, 

196 
Bible  a  Program  of  the  Religious  Life, 

183 
Bible  as  a  Text  book  of  Ethics,  The,  1 70 
Bible,  Authority  of  the,  184 
Bible   Classes,    Character-Making   Ele- 
ments in  Young  Men's,  395 
Bible,  Educational  Quahties  of  the,  55 
Bible,  Educational  Use  of  the,  by  the 

Pastor,  180 
Bible,  History  and  Literature  in  the,  19 
Bible,  How  to  be  Taught,  76 
Bible,  How  to  Derive  Religious  Experi- 
ence from  the,  179 
Bible,  How  to  Teach  the  Child  the,  78 
Bible,  Idealism  of  the,  57 
Bible,  Importance  of  the,  as  a  Factor  in 
Promoting  Efficiency  and  Growth,  17 
Bible  in  Education,  The,  55 
Bible  in  Practical  and  Intellectual  Life, 
College  Courses  Bearing  on  the,  131 
Bible,  Inspiration  of  the,   188 
Bible  in  the  PubHc  Schools,  The,  278 
Bible,  Literary  Interpretation  of  the,  19S 
Bible,  Living  Menand  Women  in  the,  82 
Bible's  Message  for  the  Age  of  the  Social 

Question,  The,  102 
Bible,     Necessity    of,     in     the     Public 

Schools,  283 
Bible,  Offense  in  Teaching  the,  141 
Bible,   Part    of,   to    be    Committed   to 

Memory,  34 
Bible,  Place  of,  in  a  College  Curriculum, 

139 

Bible,  Puritan  Teaching  of  the,  76. 

Bible  Reading  and  the  Lord's  Prayer  in 
Public  Schools,  Moral  Effects  of,  280 

Bible,  Realism  of  the,  56 

Bible,  Scientific  Study  of  the,  in  Theo- 
logical Seminaries,  162 

Bible  Stories,  The  Art  of  Telling,  26 

Bible  Study,  Assistance  of  the  Public 
Library  to,  407,  414  •-      ■ 

Bible  Study,  Character-Making  Ele- 
ments in,  395 


631 


632 


THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 


Bible  Study,  College  Courses  of,  131 
Bible  Study,  Importance  of,  79 
Bible  Study  in  the  Colleges,  83 
Bible  Study  in  the  Public  Schools  of 

Germany,  294 
Bible  Study  in  the  Theological  Curricu- 
lum, The  Present  Status  of,  161 
Bible  Study  in  the  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Associations,  350 
Bible   Study,  The   Historical  Point    of 

View  in,  6 
Bible  Teaching,  The  Cardinal  Principle 

of,  425 
Bible,  The,  a  Book  of  Ideals,  232 
Bible,  The  Age-Spirit  in  Relation  to  the, 

199 
Bible,   The   Chief  Subject  of  Sunday- 
School  Study,  249 
Bible,  The  History  of  the  People  of  God, 

182 
Bible,  The  Homiletic  Use  of  the,  188 
Bible,  The  Layman  and  the  Spiritual 

Authority  of  the,  196 
Bible,  The,  Not  Antiquated,  100 
Bible,    The,    Not   a   Text-book,  but   a 

Field  of  Study,  132 
Bible,  The  Power  of  the,  53 
Bible,  The  Results  of  Impartial  Criti- 
cism of  the,  118 
Bible,  The  Revelation  of  the,  181 
Bible,  The  Spiritual  Element  in  the,  138 
Bible,  The  Teacher  of  the,  140 
Bible,  Three  Chief  Views  of  the,  250 
Bible,  Uniqueness  of  the,  55 
Bibhcal  Criticism,  Duty  of  the  Religious 

Press  Regarding,  427 
Biblical  Criticism  in  Theological  Semi- 
naries, 165 
Biblical  Instruction  in  Summer  Schools, 

457 

Biblical  Knowledge,  Church  Provision 
for  Adequate  Instruction  in,  202 

Biblical  Literature  as  a  Medium  of 
Spiritual  Communication,  178 

Biblical  Literature  as  a  Subject  for 
Scientific  Study,    131 

Biblical  Material  Adapted  to  Adoles- 
cents, 67 

Biblical  Material  Adaptedto  the  Child,6i 

Bibhcal  Pictures,  The  Art  of,  in  Teach- 
ing Children,  471 

Biblical  Principles,  Opportunity  of  the 
Daily  Press  to  Apply,  to  Modern 
Social  Problems,  431 

Bibhcal  Science,  Training  in,  131 

Bishop  J.  Remsen,  280 

Address:  Moral  Effects  of  Bible 
Reading  and  the  Lord's  Prayer  in 
PubUc  Schools,  280 

Bitting,  William  C,  216,  519,  538 
Address:    A    Survey   of   the    Present 
Sunday-School  World,  216 


Blackall,  C.  R.,  512,  518,  527 
Boocock,  William  H.,  192 

Discussion:    The    Educational     Use 

of  the  Bible  by  the  Pastor,  192 
Books  in  Education,  The  Function  of,  43 
Books,  The  Good  and  the  Bad,  38 
Bowerman,  George  F.,  400,  546 

Address:  The  Religious  and  Ethical 

Work  of  Libraries,  400 
Boys'    Clubs,    Church,    The    Test    of 

Success    in,    388 
Bradford,  Amory  H.,  517 
Bradner,  Lester,  Jr.,  267,  542 

Discussion:         The      Sunday -School 

Teacher,  267 
Brumbaugh,  Martin  G.,  517,  528,  536 
Burton,  Ernest  D.,  248,  542,  549,  550 

Address:    The  Principles  Underlying 

a  Graded   Curriculum,   248 

c 

Cady,  J.  Cleveland,  477,  548 

Address:  The  Educational  Values 
of  Church  Architecture  and  Decora- 
tion, 477 

Canfield,  James  H.,  419,  546 

Address:  Co-operation  between  the 
Sunday-School  Teacher  and  the 
Pubhc    Library,    419 

Carr,  John  W.,  302,  543 

Address:  Moral  Instruction  in  the 
Anderson,  Ind.,  Public  Schools,  302 

Catechism,  Learning  of  the,  34 

Character-Forming,  Memory  Work  in, 

31 
Child,    Biblical    Material    Adapted    to 

the,  61 
Child,  Centrality  of,  in  Education,  62 
Child,  Fitting  the  Bible  to  the,  65 
Child,  Growth  in  Character  of  the,  243 
Child,  Historical   Development  of  the, 

230 
Child,  How  to  Teach  the  Bible  to  the, 

78 
Child,  Influence  of  Books  upon  the,  43 
Child's  Interest  in  the  Bible,  The,  63 
Child,  Memory  Work  for  the,  31 
Child,    Religious    Development    of,    in 

the  Public  Schools,  316 
Child,  Teaching  Rehgion  to  the,  247 
Child,  Teaching  the  Bible  to  the,  65 
Child,  The  Bible's  Teaching  concerning 

the,  52 
Child,  What  should  be  Taught  the,  47 
Childhood,  The  Religion  of  Early,  244 
Children,  The  Development  of  the  Will 

in,  326 
Children,  The  Use  of  Biblical  Pictures 

in  Teaching,  471 
Children's     Sections      of     the     Public 

Library,  Religious  and  Ethical  Work 

Possible  in  the,  413 


GENERAL  INDEX 


^33 


Christian    Associations,    Addresses    in 

the  Department  of,  347 
Christian  Associations,  Department  of, 

97 

Christian  Associations  in  Colleges,  143 

Christian  Associations,  Foremost  in  the 
Progress  of  Religious  Education,  97 

Christian  Associations,  Religious  Educa- 
tion in  the,  347 

Christian  Endeavor  Pledge  in  Young 
People's  Societies,  382 

Christian  Organizations,  The  Training 
Schools  of  the,  338 

Church  and  the  Bible  School,  The,  255 

Church  Architecture  and  Decoration, 
The  Educational  Values  of,  477 

Church  Boys'  Clubs,  The  Test  of  Suc- 
cess in,  388 

Church,  Educational  Use  of  the  Bible 
in  the,  180 

Church,  Function  of  the,  80 

Church  Music,  Service  to  Religious 
Feeling  of,  502 

Church  Provision  for  Adequate  Instruc- 
tion in  Biblical  Knowledge,  202 

Church,  Relation  of  the  Young  People's 
Societies  to  Other  Departments  of 
the,  367 

Church,  Responsibility  of  the,  for  the 
Training  of  Sunday-School  Teachers, 

337 
Church,    The,    and   the   Young   Men's 

Christian   Associations,   358 
Church,  The  Function  of  the,  104 
Churches  and  Pastors,  Addresses  in  the 

Department    of,    180 
Church's  Duty  to    the   Sunday  School, 

The,  207 
Coe,  George  A.,  469,  525,  537,  539,  540, 

549 

Address:    Religious   Psychology   and 

Pedagogy  in  Summer  Schools,  469 

Colledge,  William  A.,  446,  547 

Address:  Correspondence  Instruction 
as  a  Factor  in  Religious  Culture,  446 

College,  Bible  Study  in  the,  83 

College  Courses  of  Bible  Study,  131 

College  Instruction  in  the  Bible,  Aim 
of,  131 

College,  Obligations  of,  respecting 
Bible  Instruction,  99 

College  Professor,  Pastoral  Opportunity 
of  the,  152,  156,  157 

College  Professors,  Religious  Character 
of,  126 

Colleges,  Religious  Life  in  the,  89 

College  Students,  Religious  Opportu- 
nities of  the,   128 

College  Students,  Religious  Organiza- 
tions among,  143 

Colleges,  Religious  Organizations  in, 
143 


College  Students,  The  Religious  Atti- 
tude of,  85,  147 

Colleges,  Supervision  of  the  Religious 
Life  in,  125 

Colleges,  The  Religious  Spirit  in,  145 

Constitution  of  the  Religious  Education 
Association,  531 

Convention,  Attendance  at  the,  528 

Convention,  Minutes  of  the,  517 

Convention,  Philadelphia  Committee  of 
Arrangements  for  the,  528 

Convention,  Reception  to  the,  528 

Conwell,  Russell  H.,  526,  529 

Correspondence  Instruction,  Addresses 
in  the  Department  of,  446 

Correspondence  Instruction  as  a  Factor 
in  Religious  Culture,  446 

Correspondence  Instruction,  Depart- 
ment of,  Scope  and  Method  of  the 
Work  of,  452 

Council  of  Religious  Education,  The, 

531 

Addresses  in  the  Department  of,  no 

Members  of  the,  549 
Curriculum,  Adaptability  of  the  Bible  to 

the  Graded,  230,  234 
Curriculum,  Biblical  Material  Adapted 

to  a  Graded,  62 
Curriculum,  The  Principles  Underlying 

a  Graded,  243,  248 

D 

Dawson,  George  E.,  63,  67,  519,  549 
Address:    The    Contact    of    Biblical 
Material  with  Adolescent  Life,  67 

Doggett,  L.  L.,  356,  549 

Address:  Agencies  for  Religious  Edu- 
cation in  Addition  to  Bible  Study  in 
the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tions, 356 

Doren,  Electra  C,  413 

Address:  Religious  and  Ethical  Work 
Possible  in  the  Children's  Sections  of 
the  Public  Library,  413 

Douglas,  Walter  C,  519 

Dunning,  Albert  E.,  263,  542 

Address:  The  Religious  Education 
Association  and  the  Sunday  School, 
263 

Dutton,  Samuel  T.,  202,  549 

Address:  Church  Provision  for  Ade- 
quate Instruction  in  Biblical  Knowl- 
edge, 202 

Duty,  Biblical  Teaching  concerning,  57 


Editorial  Secretary,  Annual  Report  of 
the,  520 

Education,  A  Scientific  Basis  for,  no 

Education,  The  Annual  Survey  of  Prog- 
ress in  Religious  and  Moral,  86 

Education,  The  Bible  in,  55 


634 


THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 


Education,  The  True  Aim  of,  67 

Education,  The  Unity  of,  75 

Educational  Institutions,  Supervision  of 
the  Religious  Life  in,  125 

Educational  Practices,  A  Scientific  Basis 
for  Religious  and  Moral  Education, 
from  the  Standpoint  of,  120 

Educational  Progress,  Passive  Resist- 
ance to,  89 

Educational  Use  of  the  Bible  by  the 
Pastor,  180 

Elementary  Public  Schools,  Addresses 
in  the  Department  of,  294 

Ellis,  William  T.,  436,  528,  529,  546 
Address:    The    Opportunity    of    the 
Secular  Press  for  the  Moral  Educa- 
tion of  the  People,  436 

Elmer,  Franklin  D.,  525 

Ethical  and  Religious  Work  of  Libraries, 
400 

Ethical  and  Rehgious  Work  Possible  in 
the  Children's  Sections  of  the  Public 
Library,  413 

Ethical  Education  of  the  People,  Oppor- 
tunity of  the  Secular  Press  for  the, 
436 

Ethical  Instruction  in  the  Public  Schools 
of  Anderson,  Indiana,  302 

Ethical  Instruction  in  the  Public  Schools 
of  New  York  City,  319 

Ethical  Teaching  in  the  Public  Elemen- 
tary School,  311 

Ethics  and  Literature,  The  Relation  of, 

49° 

Ethics,  A  Scientific  Basis  in,  for  Reli- 
gious and  Moral  Education,  no 

Ethics,  Direct  and  Indirect  Instruction 
in,  269 

Ethics  in  the  Public  Schools,  269 

Ethics,  Religious  Embodiment  of  the 
Principles  of,  117 

Ethics,  The  Bible  as  a  Text-book  of,  170 


Faunce,  William  H.  P.,  75,  519,  538,  549 
Address:  The  Co-ordination  of  the 
Bible  with  Other  Subjects  of  Study,  75 

Fennell,  W.  G.,  395 

Address:  Character-Making  Elements 
in  Young  Men's  Bible  Classes,  395 

Fergusson,  E.  Morris,  210 

Address:  A  Study  of  Sunday-School 
Conditions  in  New  Jersey,  210 

Foote,  Elizabeth  L.,  407 

Address:  The  Union  of  Sunday- 
School  Libraries  with  PubUc  Li- 
braries, 407 

Forbush,  William  B.,  379,  540,  545,  549 
Address:  The  Conditions  and  Needs 
of  Young  People's  Societies,  379 

Foss,  Cyrus  D.,  517,  529 


Fowler,  Henry  T.,  136 

Discussion:  College  Courses  Bearing 
on  the  Bible  in  Practical  and  Intellec- 
tual Life,  136 

Fry,  Charles  L.,  52,  518,  529 

Discussion:  Religious  Education  in 
the  Home,  52 


General   Secretary,   Annual   Report   of 
the,  520 

Genesis,  History  and  Story  in,  27 

Genung,  John  Franklin,  196 

Address:  The  Layman  and  the 
Spiritual  Authority  of  the  Bible,  196 

Gow,  George  C,  502,  548 

Address:  The  Service  to  Religious 
Feeling  of  the  Music  of  the  Church, 
502 

Graded     Curriculum,    The    Principles 
Underlying  a,  243,  248 

Graded    Lesson,    Adaptability    of    the 
Bible  to  the,  230,  234 

Graded  Lessons,  The  Present  Use  of, 
226 

Gulick,  Luther  Halsey,  120,  549 

Address:  A  Scientific  Basis  for  Reh- 
gious and  Moral  Education  from  the 
Standpoint  of  Educational  Practices, 
120 

Gunsaulus,  Frank  W.,  526,  539 

H 

Hainer,  L.  H.,  519,  529 

Haines,  Amos  H.,  519 

Hall,   Charles  Cuthbert,  86,   523,   525, 
526,  536,  539,  548 

Address:  The  Annual  Survey  of  Prog- 
ress in  Religious  and  Moral  Educa- 
tion, 86 

Hall,  Thomas  C,  11,  517 

Address:  The  Unique  Character  and 
Value  of  the  Bible  as  an  Interpreter 
of  Life,  1 1 

Harper,  William  R.,  520,  536,  539,  550 

Harris,  W.  T.,  550 

Quoted  on  Rehgious  Instruction  in  the 
Public  Schools,  322 

Haslett,  Samuel  B.,  230 

Address:  The  Adaptabihty  of  the 
Bible  to  the  Graded  Lesson,  230 

Hazard,  CaroHne,  518,  536,  540 

Hervey,  Walter  L.,  31,  311,  518,  539, 
543,  550 

Address :  Memory  Work  in  Character- 
Forming,  31 

Address :  Rehgious  and  Moral  Teach- 
ing in  the  PubUc  Elementary  Schools, 

311 
Historical    Questions    in    Relation    to 
Differences  in  Religious  BeUef,  285 


GENERAL  INDEX 


635 


History  and  Story  Defined,  26 

Hodge,  Richard  M.,  345,  544 

Address:  Specialization  in  Sunday- 
School  Teaching,  345 

Holmes,  Jesse  H.,  138,  529,  538 

Discussion:  College  Courses  Bearing 
on  the  Bible  in  Practical  and  Intel- 
lectual Life,  138 

Home  a  School  of  Practice  in  Rehgion, 
The,  51 

Home  as  a  Social  Institution,  The,  46 

Home,    Dangers  Which   now  Threaten 
the,  46 

Home,  Development  of  the,  21 

Home,  Influence  of  the  Rehgious  Press 
on  the,  442 

Home,  Literature  as  a  Means  of  Educa- 
tion in  the,  38 

Home,   Memory  Training  of  Children 
in  the,  35 

Home,  Rehgious  Education  in  the,  21 

Home,  Religious  Opportunity  of  the,  21 

Home,  What  it  Ought  to  Be,  The,  47 

Home,  Herman  H.,  46,  518,  538 

Discussion:  Religious  Education  in 
the  Home,  46 

Address:  Religious  Teaching  in  the 
Public  Schools,  276 

Horr,  George  E.,  285 

Address:  Historical  Questions  in 
Relation  to  Differences  in  Religious 
Bchef,  285 

Hoyt,  Wayland,  525,  529 

Hughes,  Richard  C,  156 

Discussion:  The  Pastoral  Opportunity 
of  the  College  Professor,  156 
Huling,  Ray  Greene,  269,  542 

Addresses:    Resources   of   the    Public 
Schools  for  Moral  Training,  269 
Hutcheson,  Mary  E.,  48,  518,  545 
Discussion:    Religious    Education    in 
the  Home,  48 


Imagination  in  the  Cultivation  of  the 
Emotions,  The,  40 

Imagination,  Use  of,  in  Telling  Bible 
Stories,  30 

Instruction  as  a  Part  of  Religious  Edu- 
cation, 50 

Intellectual  Element,  The,  Not  Domi- 
nant in  Rehgion,  122 

International  Sunday-School  Associa- 
tion, Co-operation  of  the  Religious 
Education  Association  with  the,  266 

J 

Jacobus,  Melancthon  W.,  161,  541 
Address:  The  Present  Status  of  Bible 
Study  in  the  Theological  Curriculum, 
161 


Jenkins,  Burris  A.,  152,  545 

Address:  The  Pastoral  Opportunity 
of  the  College  Professor,    152 

Jesse,  Richard  H.,  125,  536,  541 

Address:  The  Supervision  of  the 
Religious  Life  in  Educational  Institu- 
tions, 125 

Jesus    and    His    Teachings     Especially 
Adapted  to  Adolescence,  70 

Jesus  the  Embodiment  of  Moral  Prin- 
ciples, 117 

Jesus,  The  Ideal  Teaching  Methods  of, 

331 
Jesus,  The  Social  Teaching  of,  107 
Joseph,  The  Bible  Story  of,  27 
Judson,  Edward,   17,  517 

Address:  Importance  of  the  Bible  as 

a     Factor     in     Prom.oting     Spiritual 

Efficiency  and  Growth,  17 

K 

Kirkland,  James  H.,  518,  540 
Kloss,  Charles  Luther,  376 

Address:  The   Four  Chief  Elements 

of  Christian  Training,  376 


Landrith,  Ira,  9,  21,  518,  520,  536 

Address:  The  Religious  Opportunity 

of  the  Home,  21 
Libraries,  Addresses  in  the  Department 

of,  400 
Libraries,  Department  of,  95 
Library,  Public,   Co-operation   between 

the  Sunday-School  Teacher  and  the, 

419 
Library,  Public,  Religious  and  Ethical 

Work    Possible     in     the     Children's 

Sections  of  the,  413 
Libraries,  Public,    Union    of    Sunday- 
School  Libraries  with,  407 
Libraries,    The   Religious   and   Ethical 

Work  of,  400 
Life,  Contact  with  Human,  as  a  Means 

of  Growth,  41 
Life,  Relation  between  Doctrine  and,  51 
Life,  The  Biblical  Conception  of,  55 
Life,  The  Highest  Conception  of,  40 
Life,  The  True  Christian  View  of,  113 
Life,  The  Unity  of,  in  Education,  112 
Literature  as  a  Guide  in  Morals,  272 
Literature    as    a    Means    of    Religious 

Education  in  the  Home,  38 
Literature   as   a   Medium   of   Spiritual 

Communication,  178 
Literature,  The  Moral  Element  in,  38 
Literature,  The  Religious  Values  of,  490 

M 

MacChntock,  William  D.,  490,  548 
Address:    The    Religious    Values    of 
Literature,  409 


636 


THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 


Magee,  Harriet  Cecil,  483,  548 

Address:  Clubs  and  Classes  for  the 
Study  of  Religious  Pictorial  Art,  483 

Mallory,  Hervey  F.,  452,  547 

Address:  Scope  and  Method  of  Work 
of  the  Department  of  Correspondence 
Instruction,  452 

Mathews,  Shailer,  115,  541,  550 

Address:  A  Scientific  Basis  for  Reli- 
gious and  Moral  Education  from  the 
Standpoint  of  Theology,  115 

McAlhster,  Cloyd  N.,  326 

Address:  The  Development  of  the 
Will  in  Children,  326 

McDowell,  William  F.,  83,  519,  537,  550 
Discussion:  The  Bible  in  Education, 

83 

McFadyen,  John  E.,  55,  519,  537 

Address:  The  QuaHties  Which  Make 
the  Bible  Educationally  Valuable,  55 

McKelway,  A.  J.,  431,  546 

Address:  The  Opportunity  of  the 
Daily  Press  to  Apply  Biblical  Prin- 
ciples to  Modern  Social  Problems,  431 

Mead,  George  Whitefield,  234,  550 
Address:    The    Adaptability   of    the 
Bible  to  the  Graded  Lesson,  234 

Meeser,  Spenser  B.,  180,  545 

Address:  The  Educational  Use  of  the 
Bible  by  the  Pastor,   180 

Members  of  the  Religious  Education 
Association,  The,  551 

Memory,  What  Should  Be  Committed 

to,  34 

Memory  Work  in  Character-Forming  ,31 

Merriam,  Edmund  F.,  442 

Address:  The  Influence  of  the  Reli- 
gious Press  on  the  Home  and  the 
School,  442 

Merrill,  George  R.,  237,  545 

Address :  Organized  Sunday-School 
Work,  237 

Miller,  Rufus  W.,  525,  529 

Minister  and  the  Sunday-School 
Teacher,  The,  258 

Minister,  The,  and  BibUcal  Criticism, 

185 
Minister,  The,  in  Relation  to  the  Young 

People's  Society,  369 
Minister,  The  Pedagogical  Training  of 

the,  334 
Minister's  Knowledge  of  the  Bible,  The, 

185 

Moore,  Edward  C,  188 

Address:  The  Homiletic  Use  of  the 
Bible,  188 

Moral  Education  of  the  People,  Oppor- 
tunity of  Secular  Press  for  the,  436 

Moral  Effects  of  Bible  Reading  and  the 
Lord's  Prayer  in  the  PubHc  Schools, 
280 


Moral  Instruction  in  the  PubHc  Schools, 

302 
Moral  Instruction  in  the  Public  Schools 

of  New  York  City,  319 
Moral  Teaching  in  the  Public  Elemen- 
tary School,  311 
Moral  Training,  Resources  of  the  Public 

Schools  for,  269 
Moulton,  Richard  G.,  26,  518 

Address:  The  Art  of  TelUng   Bible 

Stories,  26 
Music  of  the  Church,  Service  to  Reli 

gious  Feeling  of  the,  502 

N 

Nason,  George  F.,  518 

New  Jersey,  A  Study  of  Sunday-School 

Conditions  in,  210 
New  Testament,  Message  of  the,  11 

o 

Ofiicers    of    the    Rehgious    Education 

Association,  536 
Old  Testament,  Message  of  the,  12 
Old  Testament,  The  Place  of,  in  Mod- 
ern Preaching,  190 

P 

Parents,  The  ResponsibiUty  of,  21,  36, 
48 

Patten,  Amos  W.,  ^:i2,  544 

Address:    The    Present    Training   of 
Teachers  for  Religious  Education,  333 

Patton,  Walter  M.,  208 

Discussion:  The  Spiritual  Authority 
of  the  Bible  as  Now  Interpreted,  208 

Peabody,  Francis  Greenwood,  100,  526, 

536,  541 

Address:  The  Bible's  Recognition  of 
the  Social  Needs  and  Relationships 
of  Man,  100 
Pease,  George  W.,  255,  544,  550 

Address:  The  Sunday-School  Teacher, 

255 

Pedagogical  and  Psychological  Prin- 
ciples of  Religious  Teaching,  The,  340 

Pratt,  Waldo  S.,  508,  548,  550 

Address:  The  Field  of  Artistic  Influ- 
ences in  Religious  Education,  508 

President's  Annual  Address,  Tlae,  3 

Press,  Daily,  as  It  Is  and  as  It  Should 
Be,  436 

Press,  Daily,  Opportunity  of  the,  to 
Apply  Biblical  Principles  to  Modern 
Social  Problems,  431 

Press,  Religious,  and  Biblical  Criticism, 
427 

Press,  Rehgious,  Relation  of  the,  to 
Rehgious  Education,  425 

Press,  Religious,  The  Influence  of  the, 
on  the  Home  and  the  School,  442 


GENERAL  INDEX 


637 


Press,  Secular,  Opportunity  of  the,  for 
the  Moral  Education  of  the  People, 
436 

Press,  The,  Addresses  in  the  Depart- 
ment of,  425 

Psychological  and  Pedagogical  Prin- 
ciples of  Religious  Teaching,  The,  340 

Public  Elementary  School,  Religious 
and  Moral  Teaching  in  the,  311 

Public  School  Course  on  Moral  Instruc- 
tion, 307 

Public  School  Teacher,  Moral  and 
Religious  Qualifications  of  the,  330 

Public  Schools,  Avoidance  of  Sectarian 
Religious  Teaching  in,   286 

PubUc  Schools,  Can  the  Bible  be  Read 
in,  281 

Public  Schools,  Chief  Aim  of  the,  269 

Public  Schools,  Demand  for  the  Form.al 
Teaching  of  Religion  in,  313 

Pubhc  Schools,  Difficulties  of  Teaching 
Religion  in,  277 

Pubhc  Schools,  German,  Religious 
Training  in  the,  294 

PubUc  Schools,  Influence  of  the  Reli- 
gious Press  on  the,  442 

PubUc  Schools,  Means  Employed  in 
Teaching  Morality  in,  302 

Public  Schools,  Moral  Effects  of  Bible 
Reading  and  the  Lord's  Prayer  in, 
280 

Public  Schools,  Necessity  of  the  Bible 
in,  283 

Pubhc  Schools,  Not  all  Rehgious 
Teachers  in,  279 

Public  Schools  of  Anderson,  Ind., 
Moral  Instruction  in  the,  302 

Public  Schools  of  New  York  City, 
Moral  Instruction  in  the,  319 

Public  Schools,  Resources  of,  for  Moral 
Training,  269 

Public  Schools,  Rehgious  Teaching  in 
the,  276 

Public  Schools,  Teaching  Truthfulness 
in  the,  305 

Public  Schools,  The,  and  Religious 
Controversies,  285 

Public  Schools,  The  Work  of,  in  Reli- 
gious Development  of  the  Child,  316 

Public  Schools  to  be  Essentially  but  Not 
Formally  Religious,  314 

Public  School  Teachers,  Instruction  in 
Morals  by  the,  272 

Pubhc  Schools,  Use  of  the  Bible  in  the, 
278 

R 

Reedcr,  R.  R.,  340,  544 

Address:     The     Psychological     and 

Pedagogical    Principles   of   Religious 

Teaching,  340 
Religion  and  Literature,  The  Relation 

of,  490 


Rehgion,  Attitude  of  the  Secular  Press 

toward,  436 
Religion,     Demand     for     the     Formal 

Teaching     of,     in     Public     Schools, 

Religion,  Formal  Teaching  of.  Unneces- 
sary in  the  Public  School,  311 
Religion  Includes  the  Whole  Man,  149 
Religion  Not  a  Separate  Section  of  Life, 

"3 

Religion,  The  Intellectual  Element  not 
Dominant  in,  122 

Religious  Adjustment,  Importance  of,  70 

Religious  and  Ethical  Work  Possible  in 
the  Children's  Sections  of  the  Pubhc 
Library,  413 

Religious  and  Ethical  Work  of  Libraries, 
400 

Religious  and  Moral  Education,  A 
Scientific  Basis  for,  from  the  Stand- 
point of  Educational  Practices,  120 

Religious  and  Moral  Education,  A 
Scientific  Basis  for,  from  the  Stand- 
point of  Ethics,  no 

Rehgious  and  Moral  Education,  A 
Scientific  Basis  for,  from  the  Stand- 
point of  Theology,  115 

Religious  and  Moral  Education,  The 
Annual  Survey  of  Progress  in,  86 

Religious  and  Moral  Teaching  in  the 
Public  Elementary  School,  311 

Religious  Belief,  Historical  Questions  in 
Relation  to  Differences  in,  285 

Religious  Art  and  Music,  Addresses  in 
the  Department  of,  471 

Rehgious  Art  and  Music,  Department 
of,  94 

Religious  Authority,  The  Bible  as  a,  184 

Religious  Development  of  the  Child  in 
the  Public  School,  316 

Religious  Education  and  Biblical  Sci- 
ence, 133 

Rehgious  Education  and  Christian  Ac- 
tivity, 366 

Religious  Education,  Changes  Necessary 
in,  6 

Religious  Education,  Correspondence 
Instruction  as  a  Factor  in,  446 

Religious  Education  in  Addition  to 
Bible  Study  in  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Associations,  Agencies  for, 

Religious    Education    in    Relation    to 

General  Education,  75 
Rehgious  Education  in  Relation  to  the 

Will,  Affections,  and  Understanding, 

112 
Religious  Education  in  Summer  Schools, 

457 
Religious  Education  in  the  Home,  21 
Rehgious  Education  in  the  Home,  Lit- 
erature as  a  Means  of,  38 


638 


THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 


Religious  Education  in  the  Public 
Schools,  276 

Religious  Education  in  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Associations,  347 

Religious  Education,  Lack  of  Co- 
ordination in,  88 

ReUgious  Education  of  the  Child,  Es- 
sential Content  of  the,  47 

Religious  Education  of  the  Young  Man, 
The,  363 

Religious  Education,  Present  Sentiment 
in  Favor  of,  91 

Religious  Education,  Relation  of  Psy- 
chology and  Pedagogy  in  Summer 
Schools  to,  469 

ReUgious  Education,  Relation  of  the 
Religious  Press  to,  425 

Religious  Education,  Standards  of 
Measuring,  361 

Religious  Education,  The  Bible  in,  55 

Religious  Education,  The  Dignity  of, 
268 

Religious  Education,  The  Field  of  Ar- 
tistic Influences  in,  508 

Religious  Education,  The  Four  Chief 
Elements  of,  376 

Religious  Education,  The  Largest  View 
of,  42 

Religious  Education,  The  Place  of  In- 
struction in,  50 

Religious  Education,  The  Present  Train- 
ing of  Teachers  for,  333 

Religious  Education,  The  Psychological 
and  Pedagogical  Principles  of,  340 

Religious  Education,  The  True  Aim  of, 
67 

Rehgious  Education,  The  True  Scope 
of,  267 

Religious  Education,  The  Use  of  Pic- 
tures in,  471 

Religious  Education  Association,  The, 
Aim  and  Policy  of,  4,  8,  39 
As  a  Co-ordinating  Factor  in  the  Re- 
ligious Field,  92 

Chairman  of  the  Executive  Board, 
Annual  Report  of  the,  520 
Constitution  of  the  Association,  531 
Constitution,  Amendments  to  the,  524 
Council  of  Rehgious  Education, 
Members  of  the,  549 
Departmental  Sessions  at  the  Con- 
vention, 527 

Editorial  Secretary,  Annual  Report  of 
the,  620 

Financial  Secretary,  Annual  Report  of 
the,  521 

General  Secretary,  Annual  Report  of 
the,  520 

In  Relation  to  the  Sunday  School,  218, 
263 

Members,  551 
Minutes  of  the  Convention,  517 


Necessity  of,  5 
Officers,  536 

President's  Annual  Address,  3 
Results  of  the  Convention,  525 
The  Work  of  the,  86 
Rehgious  Experience,  Development  in, 

245 

ReUgious  Experience,  The  Bible  as  a 
Source  of,  177 

Religious  Experience,  The  Bible  in,  3 

ReUgious     Instruction     and     Religion, 
Distinction  between,  340 

Religious   Instruction,    The   Nature   of 
True,  246 

Religious    Instruction,    The    Practical 
Aim  of,  48 

ReUgious  Instruction,  The  Primary  Ap- 
peal of,  122 

ReUgious  Life  in  Educational  Institu- 
tions, Supervision  of  the,  125 

Religious   Life,    Relation   of    Religious 
Instruction  to,  279 

Religious   Life,   Too   Narrow   Concep- 
tions of,  42 

Religious  Organizations  among  College 
Students,  143 

Religious  Pedagogy,  The  Rise  of,  ^^^ 

Religious     Pictorial     Art,     Clubs     and 
Classes  for  the  Study  of,  483 

Religious  Press,  Relation  of  the,  to  Re- 
ligious Education,  425 

Religious  Progress,   Passive  Resistance 
to,  89 

Religious  Psychology  and  Pedagogy  in 
Summer  Schools,  469 

Religious  Teaching  in  the  PubUc  Schools, 
276 

Religious  Teaching,  The  Fundamental 
Principles  of,  341 

Religious  Teaching,  The  Psychological 
and  Pedagogical  Principles  of,  340 

Religious    Training    in     the     German 
Schools,  294 

ReUgious  Values  of  Literature,  The,  490 

Rice,  WilUam  North,  157 

Discussion :  The  Pastoral  Opportunity 
of  the  College  Professor,  157 

Riggs,  James  S.,  170 

Address:  The  Bible  as  a  Text-book  of 
Ethics,  170 

Rosevear,  Henry  E.,  518,  544 

Ruskin,  John,  Early  Training  of,  32 


Sanders,   Frank  K.,   3,   517,   524,   526, 

537.  540,  550 

Address:     The     President's     Annual 
Address,  3 
Schaeffer,  Nathan  C,  330,  544 

Address:  The  Moral  and  ReUgious 
QuaUfications  of  the  PubUc  School 
Teacher,  330 


GENERAL  INDEX 


639 


Scientific  Basis  for  Religious  and  Moral 

Education,    from   the   Standpoint   of 

Educational  Practices,  120 
Scientific  Basis  for  Religious  and  Moral 

Education,    from   the   Standpoint   of 

Ethics,  no 
Scientific  Basis  for  Religious  and  Moral 

Education,    from   the   Standpoint   of 

Theology,  115 
Scientific    Movement,    The,    and    the 

Bible,  196 
Secondary  Public  Schools,  Addresses  in 

the  Department  of,  269 
See,  Edwin  P.,  347,  518,  523,  544,  550 

Address:  ReUgious  Education  in  the 

Young  Men's  Christian  Associations, 

347 

Seeley,  Levi,  294 

Address:   Religious   Training   in   the 
German  Schools,  294 

Shaw,  Charles  Franklin,  147 

Discussion :    Religious    Organizations 
among  Students,  147 

Shaw,  William,  525,  540,  545 

Simon,  Abram,  519 

Smith,  Alexander  Mackay,  13,  517,  536 
Address:  The  Adequacy  of  the  Bible 
in  Dealing  with  the  Crises  and  Emer- 
gencies of  Life,  13 

Social  Needs  and  Relationships  of  Man, 
The  Bible's  Recognition  of  the,   100 

Social  Optimism  and  Christian  Faith, 
108 

Social  Problems,  Opportunity  of  the 
Daily  Press  to  Apply  Biblical  Prin- 
ciples to  Modern,  431 

Social  Survey,  The  Bible's  Teaching 
concerning,  104 

Sociology  and  Religion,  22 

Spiritual  Life,  Meansof  Growth  in  the,  49 

Stearns,  Wallace  N.,  9,  520,  523 

Stevenson,  Thomas  P.,  519,  529 

St.  John,  Edward  P.,  243,  544,  550 
Address:  The  Principles  Underlying 
a  Graded  Curriculum,  243 

Stories,  How  to  Tell  Bible,  26 

Stuart,  Charles  M.,  177 

Address:   The   Bible   as  a  Source  of 
Religious  Experience,  177 

Summer  Assemblies,  Addresses  in  the 
Department  of,  457 

Summer  Schools  and  Religious  Educa- 
tion, 457 

Summer  Schools  of  Sunday-School 
Methods,  465 

Summer  Schools,  Rehgious  Psychology 
and  Pedagogy  in,  469 

Sunday  School,  Biblical  Material 
Adapted  to  the  Grades  in  the,  62 

Sunday  School,  Character-Making  Ele- 
ments in  Young  Men's  Bible  Classes 
in  the,  395 


Sunday  School,  Chief  Aim  of  the,  243, 
249 

Sunday  School,  Education  in  the,  218, 
238' 

Sunday  School,  Evangelization  in  the, 
218,  237 

Sunday  School,  Financial  Support  of 
the,  206 

Sunday  School,  Graded  Lessons  in 
Use  in  the,   235 

Sunday  School,  Importance  of  the,  223 

Sunday  School,  Present  Neglect  of  the, 
202 

Sunday  School,  Relation  of  the  Pastor 
to,  224 

Sunday  School,  The,  and  the  Religious 
Education  Association,  263 

Sunday  School,  The  Bible  the  Chief 
Subject  of  Study  in,  249 

Sunday  School,  The,  in  Relation  to  the 
Public  Library,  400 

Sunday  School,  Tlie,  in  Relation  to  the 
Young  People's  Society,  368 

Sunday  School,  The  Pastor  and  the,  204 

Sunday  School,  The  Point  of  View  for 
Bible  Study  in,  251 

Sunday  School,  Three  Ideals  in  the,  218 

Sunday  School,  Training  of  Teachers 
for  the,  336 

Sunday  School,  Use  of  Graded  Lessons 
in  the,  226 

Sunday  Schools,  Addresses  in  the 
Department  of,  210 

Sunday  Schools,  Department  of,  95 

Sunday  Schools,  Properly  Equipped 
Teachers  in,  219 

Sunday  Schools,  Trained  Experience 
Needed  in  the,  219 

Sunday-School  Association,  The  Inter- 
national, 217,  220,  237 

Sunday-School  Association,  The  Inter- 
national, Co-operation  of  the  Reli- 
gious Education  Association  with  the, 
266 

Sunday-School  Conditions  in  New 
New  Jersey,  A  Study  of,  210 

Sunday-School  Curriculum,  Adapta- 
bility  of   the    Bible   to   the   Graded, 

230.  234 

Sunday-School  Curriculum,  The  Prin- 
ciples Underlying  a  Graded,  243,  248 

Sunday-School  Exhibit  at  the  Conven- 
tion, 528 

Sunday-School  Lessons,  Growth  in 
Graded,  221 

Sunday-School  Libraries,  Union  of, 
with  Public  Libraries,  407 

Sunday-School  Literature  of  the  Present 
Time,  222 

Sunday-School  Methods,  Summer 
Schools    of,    465 

Sunday-School  Teacher,  The,  255,  259 


640 


THE  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  ASSOCIATION 


Sunday-School  Teacher  and  the  Public 
Library,  Co-operation  beween  the, 
419 

Sunday-School  Teacher,  Conditions  of 
Effectiveness  in  the,  120 

Sunday-School  Teacher,  Correspond- 
ence Study  for  the,  449 

Sunday-School  Teacher,  Indefinite  Aim 
of  the,  259 

Sunday-School  Teacher,  Limited  Field 
for  the  Work  of  the,  340 

Sunday-School  Teaching,  Specialization 

in,  345 
Sunday-School  Work,  Orgam'zed,  237 
Sunday-School  World,  A  Survey  of  the 

Present,  216 
Swain,  Joseph,  322,  517,  530,  550 

Discussion:   Religious  Instruction  in 

the  Public  Schools,  322 


Teacher,  Duties  of  the,  51 

Teacher,  Public  School,  Moral  and  Re- 
ligious Qualifications  of  the,  330 

Teacher,  The  Religious  Qualifications 
of  the,  334 

Teacher,  The  Sunday  School,  225,  259 

Teachers,  The  Present  Training  of,  for 
Religious  Education,  333 

Teacher  Training,  Addresses  in  the 
Department  of,  ^;^;^ 

Teaching  Children  by  the  Use  of  Bib- 
lical Pictures,  471 

Theological  Curriculum,  Present  Status 
of  Bible  Study  in  the,  161 

Theological  Seminaries,  Addresses  in 
the  Department  of,  161 

Theological  Seminaries,  Classification 
of,  161 

Theological  Seminaries,  Department  of. 

Theological  Seminaries,  Method  and 
Spirit  of  Work  in,  168 

Theological  Seminaries,  Training  of 
Teachers  in  the,  334 

Theology,  A  Scientific  Basis  for  Reli- 
gious and  Moral  Education  from  the 
Standpoint  of,  115 

Tracy,  Frederick,  no,  550 

Address:  A  Scientific  Basis  for  Reli- 
gious and  Moral  Education  from  the 
Standpoint  of  Ethics,  no 

Truth,  The  Progress  of,  17 

Tupper,  Kerr  Boyce,  517,  530 

u 

Ullrick,  Delbert  S.,  226 

Address:  The  Present  Use  of  Graded 
Lessons  in  the  Sunday  School,  226 

Universities  and  Colleges,  Addresses  in 
the  Department  of,  125 


Universities  and  Colleges,  Department 
of,  98 

V 

Van  Meter,  J.  B.,  259,  539 

Address :  The  Sunday-School  Teacher , 

259 

Vincent,  George  E.,  457,  547 

Address:  Summer  Schools  and  Reli- 
gious Education,  457 

Votaw,  Clyde  W.,  9,  520,  521,  523,  537 

w 

Walton,  Joseph  S.,  291 

Discussion:  Historical  Questions  in 
Relation  to  Differences  in  Religious 
Belief,  291 

Wanamaker,  John,  528,  530 

Warfield,  E.  D.,  140 

Discussion:  College  Courses  Bearing 
on  the  Bible  in  Practical  and  Intel- 
lectual Life,  140 

Wells,  Amos  R.,  367,  545,  550 

Address:  The  Relation  of  the  Young 
People's  Society  to  Other  Depart- 
ments of  the  Church,  367 

Weston,  Henry  G.,  518,  530 

Will,  Development  of  the,  in  Children, 
326 

Williams,  Samuel  H.,  240 

Discussion:  Organized  Sunday- 
School  Work,  240 

Winchester,  Caleb  T.,  38,  518,  547 
Address:   Literature  as   a    Means  of 
Religious  Education  in  the  Home,  38 

WooUey,  Mary  E.,  82,  143,  519 

Address:       Religious     Organizations 

among  Students,  143 

Discussion:  The  Bible  in  Education, 

82 

Y 

Young  Men's  Bible  Classes,  Character- 
Making  Elements  in,  395 

Young  Men's  Clubs,  388 

Young  People's  Societies,  Addresses  in 
the  Department  of,  367 

Young  People's  Societies,  Department 
of,  96 

Young  People's  Societies,  Disproportion 
of  the  Sexes  in,  385 

Young  People's  Societies  in  Relation  to 
the  Other  Departments  of  the  Church, 

Young  People's  Societies,  The  Condi- 
tions and  Needs  of,  379 

Young  People's  Societies,  The  Status  of 
the    Christian    Endeavor    Pledge   in. 

Young  People's  Society  in  Relation  to 

the  Minister,  369 
Young  People's  Society  in  Relation  to 

the  Sunday  School,  368 


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